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ROSE CROSSING THE BROOK. Page 10. 







IDA AND BABY BELL. 

SECOND OF THE ROSE DALE BOOKS. 


EASY READING 

FOR THE DEAR LITTLE ONES. 


BY 


MRS. D. P. SANFORD, 


AUTHOR OF “PUSSY TIP-TOES’ FAMILY,” “FRISK AND HIS FLOCK,” “ STORIES OF 

cora’s childhood,” “ under the skylight, and other stories for 

CHRISTMAS,” ETC., ETC. 


NEW YORK: 

E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY, 

713 Broadway. 

iS 75- 


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, 
By E. r. DUTTON AND COMPANY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 


LC Control Number 



2005 416510 


Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 

No. 19 Spring Lane. 

CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY H. 0 HOUGHTON AND COMP ANT. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

I. The New Book 7 

II. The Fall of the Year 12 

III. The Day in Town 18 

IY. The New Friends 26 

V. Lit-tle Ned's Watch 35 

VI. The School 48 

VII. Go-ing to School 58 

VIII. Ned's First Day a-lone 67 

IX. The Chip-munk 74 

X. The First Snow .85 

XI. The Snow-Birds 92 

XII. An-oth-er Sun-day at Home 106 


( 3 ) 


4 


CONTENTS. 


XIII. The Wheel-bar-row lit 

XIV. A Fun-ny Day 128 

XV. A Hap-py Day 140 

XVI. The Dear Ba-by 156 

XVII. The Sleigh Kide 168 

XVIII. Two Vis-its 179 

XIX. The Snow Fort 190 

XX. Spill-ing the Ink 203 

XXI. The Sad News 215 

XXII. Com-ing and Go-ing 229 

XXIII. Talk a-bout Christ-mas. * 238 

XXIV. Christ-mas 246 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 



























































































































I. 

THE NEW BOOK. 

I have writ-ten one book to tell 
you, dear lit-tle ones, a-bout some 
chil-dren who lived at Brook-side, 
Rose, and Tom, and Ned Bale. 

But I have more to tell, which 
I think you will like to read ; so I 

T 


8 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


will make a new book, as I said I 
would. 

Try to read it all by your-self, 
each one of you ; for it is just for 
this that I put what I have to say 
in short words, and your good 
friend at the book-store will have 
these books made in nice, clear 
print, that you can read with ease. 

When you find what fun it is to 
read a book all by your-self, you 
will w r ant to try it a-gain, and not 
wait un-til some one can sit down 
to read to you. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


9 


But I dare say you want to get 
to the sto-ry now ; so I will stop 
this talk. 

May be you would like to be 
told, in the first place, what the 
pic-ture in the front of this book 
means. 

It is a pic-ture of the brook 
which ran at the foot of the hill, 
back of Mr. Dale’s house. 

It was a sweet, clear brook, and 
the chil-dren all loved to run down 
and see it, and play be-side it. 

Some-times, in the spring, it 


10 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


was quite high ; but at most times 
in the year it was low, so low that 
Rose and Tom could cross it on 
the big stones which lay in its bed. 

Their mam-ma did not fear at 
a-ny time to let them go down to 
the brook, if Tray, the dog, were 
with them. 

That is Rose, whom you see in 
the pic-ture. She is go-ing to 
cross the brook, on the stones, for 
the fun of it, and then come back 
a-gain. 

She seems to be a-lone. But 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


11 


yon may be sure, though we do 
not see them in the pic-ture, that 
Tom and lit-tle Ned are not far off. 

The name Brook-side was giv-en 
to the place where these chil-dren 
lived, be-cause of this brook. 


12 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


II. 

THE FALL OF THE TEAR. 

If you read the first book, you 
will know that, when we left off, 
Rose and the lit-tle boys had had 
a sad time with the hoop-ing 
cough. 

For a long time they could not 
go to church, nor go in-to the town 
to see their dear Aunt Kate ; and 
Tom was so sick with it, that for 
some days they were in fear that 
he would not get well. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


13 


These sad days were o-ver now ; 
and the dear lit-tle ones at Brook- 
side were well as ev-er, thanks to 
the good God who had kept them 
from harm. 

The bright, warm days of sum- 
mer were gone, too, by that time. 
Now, the wind was cold, and the 
leaves fell from the trees, and the 
days grew short. 

But the chil-dren did not mind 
this ; they found much to please 
them out-of-doors, and, with good 
warm sacks on, they did not mind 


14 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


the wind; as Rose said, “it was 
nice to run a race when the sun 
did not burn them so.” 

The two kits which these chil- 
dren had for pets, Net and Snow, 
had got to be quite large now. 
Old Puss gave up the care of them 
some time be-fore, and would have 
no more to do with them. If they 
came near to play with her, she 
would growl at them, and lift her 
paw to give them a box on the 
ear. 

Rose said, “ I hope my mam-ma 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


15 


will not send me off so, when I 
get to be a big girl.” 

But the two kits did not mind it , 
much. For a few days they did 
sit and look at old Puss, as if they 
did wish she would let them come 
to her ; but soon they did not care 
for her a-ny more than she cared 
for them, and were as full of play 
and tricks as they could be. 

That is the way with cats. But 
your mam-ma will care for you all 
her life, and I hope, when you 
grow up, you will care for her, 
more than you do now. 


16 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ I wish we could see Spot,” said 
Rose, one day ; “ I won-der if she 
is as large as our two kits ! ” 

Spot was a kit-ty which they 
had giv-en to their Aunt Kate’s 
lit-tle girl. 

Mam-ma was near, and lieard 
Rose say this. 

“I think we will go and see,” 
said she; “would you like to go 
and spend a day at Aunt Kate’s 
now ? ” 

Rose was in high glee at this; 
she did not know that her Aunt 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


17 


Kate had got home. She had 
been out of town for two or three 
weeks, with Ida, her lit-tle girl. 

Rose’s mam-ma told her they 
would all go the next day, if it 
were fine. Ked was. full of joy, 
too, at this, and they both ran to 
find Tom, and tell him all a-bout 
it. 


18 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


III. 

THE DAT IN TOWN. 

The next day was a clear, fine 
day as need be. 

Mam-ma and the lit-tle ones 
were to go in by the train, when 
pa-pa went to his store; so they 
all had to be up in good time that 
morn-ing. But Jane did not find 
it hard to wake them that time. 

The chil-dren were glad they 
were to go in the cars, for it was 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


19 


quite a treat to them ; they did 
not of-ten go that way, but drove 
in, with old Dick. 

Ned was half a-fraid when the 
cars be-gan to move, for he could 
not see what made them go ; but 
he saw Tom laugh; so he felt it 
was all right, and he be-gan to 
laugh, too. 

When they got in-to the town 
they went right to Aunt Kate’s; 
and 0, how glad she was to see 
them ! 

“ Now, where is I-da, Aunt 


20 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Kate ? 0, we do want to get hold 

of her ; we can’t wait.” 

“Well, run and find her; I 
think she just went down, with 
Spot in her arms, to get her some 
1 mik,’ as she calls it.” 

Rose, and Tom, and lit-tle Ked 
most fell ov-er each oth-er, in their 
haste to get down the stairs. 

The door of the room was o-pen, 
and there, to be sure, was dear lit- 
tle I-da, down on her hands and 
knees, look-ing at kit-ty as she 
took her milk. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


21 



The shout that the chil-dren 
gave made her jump up ; she for- 
got kit-ty then in her joy at see- 
ing Rose, and Tom, and Ned once 
more. 

But when they had all kissed 


22 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


each oth-er as much as they could 
stand, Rose ran and took Spot in 
her arms, and gave her a good 
hug. 

“You dear old kit!” she said; 
“ how nice and fat you are ! Why, 
I-da, you have tak-en good care 
of her, I see!” 

“Yes, I gives her mik all the 
days!” said the lit-tle girl. 

“Come up and take off your 
things, chil-dren ! ” they heard 
their mam-ma call. 

“Let’s take Spot, too,” said Ned. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


23 


When they were all right for a 
good play, they had to look at all 
I-da’s new toys, for her birth-day 
had been a few weeks be-fore, and 
she had a good ma-ny gifts. 

Then Aunt Kate came and said, 
“ she knew they must want some- 
thing to eat, for lit-tle folks were 
not apt to eat much when they 
were starting off.” 

“Yes, /do,” cried Ned ; “ I want 
some-fing real good, Aunt Kate.” 

Rose said, u 0, Ned! ” and shook 
her head at him; but Aunt Kate 


24 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


laughed, and said, “He tells the 
truth, I know ! ” 

So she drew out a small, round 
ta-ble, and set out a lit-tle feast 
for them, — some nice, red ap-ples, 
and lit-tle sponge cakes, and sticks 
of white can-dy. 

I-da’s doll was set up on a seat, 
and Spot, too, at the table; but 
Spot would not stay; she had had 
so much milk, that she did not 
care a bit for fruit and can-dy. 

But, 0, dear ! I can-not tell you 
all that these four hap-py tots said 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


25 


and did that day, for it would take 
too much time. 

The day was all too short for 
them ; and they all cried out, “ 0, 
dear ! ” when their pa-pa came and 
said it was time to start for home. 

But Aunt Kate said, “Kever 
mind ; it will not be long, I hope, 
be-fore you come a-gain.” 

“We shall come on Sun-days, 
now we are all well,” said Rose. 

“ Yes, dear, you will come on 
Sun-days, and some play-days, too, 
I hope.” 


26 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


IV. 

THE NEW FKIENDS. 

A small new house had been 
built near Mr. Dale’s place, a-bout 
half way to Mr. Ray’s. 

In the time that the chil-dren 
were sick, this house was all done, 
and the folks came to live in it. 

These were Mrs. Bond and her 
chil-dren. There were two lit-tle 
girls, one not much old-er than 
Rose, and one grown-up girl — 
Miss El-la. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


27 


Mrs. Dale went to call on them 
as soon as she could; but it was 
some time be-fore the chil-dren 
saw a-ny one from the new house. 

At last, one day, Mrs. Bond and 
Miss El-la came to call. 

Rose and Tom were in the room. 
They knew they must be still when 
mam-ma had calls, and not talk, 
or play, or make a noise in the 
room. 

So they were not sent out of the 
room, as some lit-tle folks must 
have been, if they had been there ! 


28 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Rose and Tom liked to stay, for 
these new friends spoke to them in 
a ver-y kind way ; and then Miss 
El-la had such a sweet, kind face, 
that they liked to look at her. 

When Mrs. Bond said they must 
go, Miss El-la turned to the lit-tle 
folks, and said, “ Will you not both 
come and see my lit-tle sis-ters ? 
They will be so glad to see you, 
for they feel lone-ly, some-times, 
in our new home.” 

11 May we, mam-ma? ” said Rose. 

“ Yes, dear, to be sure you may, 
if they would like to see you.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


29 


“ What are their names ? ” said 
Tom. 

“One is named Lu-cy, and the 
oth-er we call A-my.” 

“ I like those names,” said Tom. 

“ Then I hope you will like the 
lit-tle girls that own them,” said 
Miss El-la, with a smile. 

When they were gone, Rose 
said, “ I think Miss El-la is real 
nice ; don’t you, mam-ma ? And 
Mrs. Bond, too.” 

“Yes, dear, I like them ver-y 
much, what I have seen of them.” 


30 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“Mam-ma,” asked lit-tle Tom, 
“ why do they wear all black 
things? Why don’t they wear 
nice, blue frocks, like yours ? ” 
“Black is worn by those who 
have lost some dear friend, my 
son. Mr. Bond, Miss El-la’s fa- 
ther, died last spring.” 

“ Is that why they have come 
here to live ? ” 

“ I think so, for one thing ; but 
why do you ask ? ” 

“ 0, ’cause I like them so much,” 
said Tom. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


31 


Mrs. Dale smiled, but did not 
say a-ny more then, and Rose and 
Tom soon ran off to play. 

A few days af-ter this, mam-ma 
let Mike take the lit-tle ones, in 
the wag-on with two seats, for a 
nice treat. 

They were to call and ask Lu-cy 
and A-my Bond to take a drive 
with them. And when they came 
back, their mam-ma said they 
might stop and see their lit-tle 
friends for an hour more, at their 
home. 


32 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Lu-cy and A-my were glad to 
go to ride. Miss El-la came out 
with them, and made them all feel 
at once as if they had been friends 
a long time, she spoke in such a 
fun-ny way. 

How fast they did talk, as they 
drove a-long ! Hid you ev-er hear 
five lit-tle tongues go all at once ? 
Then you know how it sounds. 

And just think ! they saw lit-tle 
Ma-ry Ball, a lit-tle girl whom 
they had seen be-fore, who had 
a goat. Ma-ry knew them, and 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


33 


was glad to see them ; and Mm, 
the goat, seemed as gay as ev-er. 

Lu-cy and A-my had to be told 
all a-bout the goat, and they were 
pleased, too. 

When they had been out a-bout 
an hour, they drove back to Mrs. 
Bond’s. She came out to the gate, 
and told Mike she would like to 
have them stay to tea, if their 
mam-ma would let them; and 
Miss El-la would see them home. 

But Mike said he would come 
for them ; for it was quite dark 


84 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


soon af-ter tea, at this time of the 
year. 

Mrs. Dale told Mike they might 
stay, and he need not go for them 
till af-ter tea. 

The chil-dren soon knew they 
might stay, as Mike did not come 
back at once. So they had a fine 
play-time; Lu-cy and A-my did 
all they could to please them, and 
by the time the vis-it was o-ver, 
they were just the best friends in 
the world. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


35 


V. 

LIT-TLE NED’S WATCH. 

One day Mike had to go in to 
town to the stores, with the wag- 
on, and he asked if he might take 
Tom with him. 

Mrs. Dale said he might go, for 
it was a fine, clear day, and she 
knew that Mike would take the 
best of care of him. 

Then Ned cried to go, too ; but 
his mam-ma said she could not let 


36 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


her lit-tle wee boy go in that way, 
for Mike would have to run in-to 
this store and that, and Ned would 
be in his way, and might get 
hurt. 

“See,” said she; “we will give 
Tom a ten cent stamp to spend for 
Ned, and one to buy some-thing 
for Rose, too ; and then we will 
wait and see what they bring ” 

Then Ned wiped his eyes, and 
smiled, for he thought it was fun 
for Tom to go to the shop to get 
some-thing for him. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


37 


“Won’t Tom have some to spend 
for him-self? ” said Rose. 

“Why, I shall have the ride, 
and all the fun, you see,” said Tom. 

“ But,” said Rose, “ when you 
get in the shop, you will want just 
a lit-tle to buy some-tiling your- 
self — won’t you? I’ll tell you, 
Tom 5 you buy some-tiling for me 
with five cents, and spend the oth- 
er five cents for your-self ! ” 

“ JSTo,” cried Tom, “ I won’t ! I 
mean to buy some-tiling for you 
that costs ten cents ! ” 


38 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ I can fix it, I think,” said mam- 
ma ; “ here is a five cent bit that 
will just do for Tom to buy some- 
thing for him-self with 

“0, thank you, mam-ma; that 
is just right ! ” 

“ Will Tom go to Aunt Kate’s, 
and see I-da? ” asked Ned. 

“No, dar-ling, not to-day; Mike 
will not have time to go there. 
He will stop at pa-pa’s store just a 
lit-tle while, may be.” 

Rose and Ned went out to see 
Mike get up the horse, and hitch 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


39 


him to the wag-on. Then Tom 
came out, with his coat and cap 
on, and a warm scarf tied round 
his neck, and some red mit-tens on 
his hands, for mam-ma knew it 
would be cold rid-ing in the wind. 

Then they drove off. Tom felt 
quite like a man as he went off 
with Mike to town, and Rose and 
lit-tle Ned felt lone-ly as they saw 
him go. 

But just then mam-ma called 
them, and Rose sat down to her 
les-sons, and tried not to think of 
Tom till they were all done. 


40 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


As for Ned, mam-ma let him 
take her box of black but-tons, 
and he played they were coal, and 
so lie would load his cart with 
them, and draw it a-eross the 
room, to Miss May’s house, and 
then dump it at her door. Then 
he would load his cart a-gain, and 
sell to some one else. So he had 
fine fun, all by him-self. 

And so, be-fore they thought of 
it, Mike and Tom were at the gate, 
with a load of meal, and flour, and 
such things. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


41 


Tom gave a jump from the wag- 
on, and ran in. 

“Have you had a nice time?” 
asked Rose. 

“ 0, yes ! a grand time ! And 
see here, what I got for you ! ” 

For Rose, Tom had got a fun-ny 
lit-tle black doll, that made her 
laugh. 

And for Ned he had got a toy 
watch, that made him jump for joy, 
it was so like a real watch. 

Then Tom took out one more 
pa-per. “ I got this with my five 


42 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


cents,” said he ; a so we can each 
have a piece.” 

He had five sticks of can-dy, 
and he gave one to Rose, and one 
to Ned, and one to mam-ma, and 
one to Jane, who came by just 
then, and he had one him-self. 

Tom was not a self-ish boy — 
was he? 

Ned had to take his watch from 
his belt, to see what time it was, 
twice, or more, while he was eat- 
ing his can-dy, and he was quite 
proud of it for an hour or two. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


43 


Blit, by and by, as they were all 
out at play in the yard, Ned said, 
“ I don’t see why my watch does 
not go 1 tick, tick,’ like pa-pa’s. 

“One day pa’s watch did not 
go, and I saw him ope it, and 
poke it with his key. 

“ I mean to ope mine, and give 
it a poke. 0, dear, now, I can’t 
ope it ! ” 

Ned turned to ask Tom to o-pen 
it for him, but Tom and Rose had 
gone down the walk, and he had 
been talk-ing to him-self all the 
time. 


44 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


u 0, 1 can ope it with a stone ! ” 
said Ned ; and he took up a stone, 
and gave the poor watch such a 
hit as did ope it, and smash it, too ! 

There were no wheels in-side, to 
go round, and make the hands go ; 
there was noth-ing of it but the 
back, and a pa-per face, with a 
glass o-ver it, and this Ned broke 
all to bits with his stone. 

When the lit-tle boy saw what 
he had done, he be-gan to cry 
quite hard, and Tom and Rose ran 
back to see what was the mat-ter. 



NED OPENING WATCH. Page 44 










IDA AND BABY BELL. 


45 


“ 0, 0 ! ” cried Tom ; “ you bad 
boy ! what made you pound up 
that watch now, just as soon as I 
got it for you ? ” 

“ I ain’t a bad boy,” said Ned, 
with a sob ; “ I did want to ope it, 
to see if I could make it go, and it 
brolced! ” 

Tom looked vexed; but as he 
was a-bout to speak, Rose said, 
“He did not mean to break it, I 
am sure, Tom ; and he feels bad to 
see that it is brok-en. You must 
not be cross to him ” 


46 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ Can yon mend it, Rose ? Can 
mam-ma mend it ? ” 

“ No, we can’t mend it, Ned, 
dear ; but never mind ; we will go 
and see the kits now, and play 
with them.” 

But Ned kept on cry-ing ; he 
could not bear to think that his 
watch was gone. 

Then Tom felt sor-ry for him, 
and he said, “0, come, Ned; let’s 
get our reins, and play horse ; and, 
I’ll tell you ! the next time I get 
ten cents to spend, I will get you 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


47 


a new watch, and yon won’t smash 
that — will you ? ” 

“ No,” said Ned ; “ I’ll put it in 
my belt, and take good care of it.” 


48 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


VI. 


THE SCHOOL. 

One day, when Rose and Tom 
came in to get their les-sons, their 
mam-ma said, “ Chil-dren, how 
would you like to go to school ? ” 

Rose and Tom looked up at her 
with wide o-pen eyes, and Tom 
said, — 

“What is school, mam-ma? like 
what we play, when we make the 
dolls all sit up and hold their 
books ? ” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


49 


“Lit-tle chil-dren go to a real 
school, not dolls ; dolls are block- 
heads at books, I think. 

“School is a place where chil- 
dren go to learn their les-sons, 
with a teach-er, who gives his or 
her time to help them learn.” 

“Do they have to sit up in a 
row, on a hard bench?” asked 
Rose. 

“Why, no, not in all schools; 
not in the school to which you 
would go.” 

“ 0, mam-ma,” said Rose, as she 


50 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


put her arms round her mam-ma’s 
neck, “/don’t want to go to school ; 
I want to say my les-sons to you, 
just as we do now ; it is nice ! ” 

“But, my love, I am not ver-y 
well, and some days I do not feel 
as if I could hear your les-sons; 
and you know I do not want you 
to leave them off, and play all the 
time.” 

Rose and Tom looked ver-y 
grave at this ; they thought school 
must be a hard place, and they did 
not want to go. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


51 


“ Will the teach-er be cross ? ” 
said Rose, at last. 

“Why do you not ask who the 
teach-er is ? ” said mam-ma, with 
a smile. 

“ Who is it, mam-ma ? No one 
that we ev-er saw — is it ? ” 

“Miss El-la Bond is to be the 
teach-er.” 

It would, have made you laugh 
to see how the so-ber fa-ces grew 
bright at this. 

“ 0,” cried Tom, “ that is gay ; I 
shall like her for a teach-er.” 


52 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“And so shall I,” said Rose; 
“ but how fun-ny, mam-ma ! I did 
not see a school at her house.” 

“She has not be-gun it yet; it 
is to be-gin next week.” 

“Will Lu-cy and A-my be in 
the school ? ” 

“Yes, it was in part for their 
sake that she made the plan ; and 
Nell and Fred Ray are to go, and 
John Wilde, and his sis-ter.” 

“ 0, it will be fun ! ” cried Tom. 

“ But, my boy, I hope you will 
not go to school to make fun; 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 53 

\ 

Miss El-la would not like such 
chil-dren in her school ; she will 
want you to be good, and mind 
what she says to you, and try to 
learn well.” 

“Yes, I will, mam-ma; I did 
not mean that ” 

“ I dare say you will have time 
to play at re-cess ; and I hope you 
will find it nice to learn with oth- 
er lit-tle folks. 

“ So you think, af-ter all, you 
will like to go to school % ” 

“ 0, yes, mam-ma, I know we 


54 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


shall like Miss El-la’s school, for 
she is as kind as you are, hnost; 
and she could not be cross.” 

“Then I think,” said mam-ma, 
“I shall let you rest from your 
books for the rest of this week, so 
you may be-gin all fresh on Mon- 
day.” 

“0, thank you, mam-ma; that 
is nice, too,” said Rose. 

“What will Ned do when we 
are gone to school ? ” said Tom ; 
“he can-not go, can he, mam-ma?” 

“ No, he is too young to go yet ; 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


55 


but we will try to make him hap- 
py while you are gone, and then 
he will be so glad to see you when 
you come home ! ” 

The chil-dren had a great deal 
of talk a-bout the new school, and 
Ned heard them, but he did not 
think much of it ; he did not know 
what it was all a-bout. 

On Sun-day, when they went to 
town, to go to church, they told 
Aunt Kate of the school, and she 
seemed glad to hear of it, and 
ver-y glad that they liked the 
plan. 


56 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“And my boy Ned,” said she, 
“will take care of his mam-ma, 
when Rose and Tom are off to 
school; won’t he?” 

“Yes,” said Ned, “ course I will” 
And it made him feel quite like a 
man to think of it. 

“Mam-ma did not feel well; so 
she could not come to-day,” said 
Rose; “and at first she said it 
would not do for Ned to come; 
but he did want to so much, that 
pa-pa said, ‘Let him go; I am 
sure he will be a good boy.’” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


57 


“ So am I sure of it,” said Aunt 
Kate ; “ and, Ned, I-da is to go to 
church to-day, and I want you to 
show her how to sit still ; will 
you ? ” 

Ned was glad I-da was to go. 
He want-ed her to walk with him, 
and to sit by him ; and, as he was 
to teach her to keep still, he tried 
to sit as still as a mouse him-self. 


58 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


VII. 

GO-ING TO SCHOOL. 

Mon-day came, and Rose and 
Tom were up in good time, and 
felt in great haste for the hour of 
school. 

When they went in-to their 
mam-ma’s room, to kiss her, she 
said, “ My lit-tle ones are to be- 
gin a new way of life to-day ; did 
you think to ask God to bless you 
in your school, and help you to 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


59 


o-bey your teach-er, and to be 
kind to your school-mates ? ” 

“No, mam-ma,” said Rose; “I 
did not think of that.” 

“Nor I” said Tom. 

“Then you may kneel by me, 
and ask Him now ; for you know 
we can do no good thing with-out 
the help of God.” 

They did kneel down, and each 
said this prayer, af-ter their 
mam-ma : — 

“0 God, bless me, and make 
me live as Thy own child, in 


60 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


school and at home ; and keep me 
in all my ways. For Je-sus’ sake. 
A-men.” 

When break-fast was done, 
Mike drove with their pa-pa to 
the cars, and when he came back, 
he let the horse stand a lit-tle 
while, till it was time for Rose and 
Tom to go to school; for it had 
been rain-ing in the night, and the 
road was damp and mud-dy. 

Mam-ma put up a nice lunch 
for them to eat at noon, for they 
were to stay at noon on wet days ; 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


61 


then she put their read-ing books 
and slates in a bag she had made 
for them, and then it was time to 
start. 

They went off feel-ing ver-y 
hap-py, for they were glad to go 
to Miss El-la’s school. 

But you know they need not' 
have been a-fraid, if it had been 
some one else who was to teach 
them, for teach-ers are sure to love 
good chil-dren, those that mind 
what they say, and do their best 
to learn well. 


62 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Miss El-la had the back par-lor 
shut off, and fit-ted for her school- 
room. She did not need much to 
fit it, for she Avas not to have a 
large school, not more than ten or 
twelve chil-dren. 

It was a bright, warm room — 
a nice place for lit-tle folks to 
stud-y in. 

Most of the chil-dren were there 
when Tom and Rose got there. 

Miss El-la gave them each a 
kiss, and led them to the seats 
they were to have. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


63 

She told them where to hang 
their things, and where to put 
their books and slates. 

It was now nine ; that was time 
for school to be-gin. 

So Miss El-la rang a lit-tle bell, 
and told them when that bell rang 
they must all stop talk-ing, and 
look at her. 

Then Miss El-la saw that each 
one had a Bi-ble who could make 
out to read a verse. 

Fred Ray could not, and one lit- 
tle girl was too young to read yet. 


64 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Miss El-la found the place where 
they were to read, and had each 
one read a verse in turn. 

When it was Tom’s turn, or Nell 
Ray’s, Miss El-la would help them, 
if there were hard words in the* 
verse. 

When the Bi-ble les-son was 
read, Miss El-la made them all 
kneel down, while she said a short 
prayer, and then they said the 
Lord’s Prayer with her. 

Then les-sons be-gan ; but I 
need not tell you a-bout that part. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


65 


When the clock said half past 
ten, Miss El-la told them they 
were to have a lit-tle re-cess, and 
they might get up and play. 

Then, when the bell rang, she 
had them sing a nice song with 
her, and then they had more les- 
sons, till noon. 

At noon, the rain came down 
hard ; so Nell and Fred Ray had 
to stay at school, too, and one or 
two oth-ers. But they thought 
that was fun, and were glad of the 
rain that time. 


5 


66 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Be-fore school was out, it was 
clear, and the sun was out ; so 
Rose and Tom could walk home 
as well as not. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


67 


VIII. 

NED’S FIRST DAY A-LONE. 

How did Ned like be-ing left to 
play alone? you will ask. 

He looked af-ter Rose and Tom, 
as they drove off with Mike, with 
a ver-y so-ber face, as if he did 
not like it much. 

But then he got down from the 
chair by the win-dow, and said, 
u Now I must take care of mam- 
ma; Aunt Kate said I must.” 


68 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


So he looked to see what he 
could do. First he ran and got a 
foot-stool for mam-ma to put her 
feet on. Then he said, “Shall I fix 
you spools all nice in your box, 
mam-ma ? ” 

Ilis mam-ma put her box down 
on a chair for him to work at, and 
said, “ Yes, you may.” 

This kept him in work for some 
time ; but I dare say mam-ma had 
to sort things o-ver a-gain, when 
he was done. 

By and by he be-gan to be quite 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 69 

tired of play-ing by him-self ; it 
was a new thing for him, you see. 

So his mam-ma thought she 
must take care of him now. 

“ Come here, my lit-tle man, and 
see what I have found ! ” 

ISTed ran to see. Mam-ma had 
found an old lock-et ; once it had 
a braid of hair in it, but the hair 
was lost, and the loek-et was bent 
some. 

“ Do you think we can make a 
lit-tle watch of this for you ? ” said 


mam-ma. 


70 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ 0, do, do, mam-ma,” cried Ned. 

“It will not be a re-al watch, 
you know ; but you will not 
pound it if it does not tick — will 
you ? ” 

“No, mam-ma, I will just look 
at it, and play it said, ‘ Tick, tick.’ ” 

“Well, now let us see if we can 
make a face for it.” 

So mam-ma got a stiff, white 
card, and cut out r round bit, that 
would just fit in the lock-et; then 
she made the numbers on it, as 
they are on the face of a watch, 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


71 


and drew some hands, or point-ers, 
with her pen. 

Then she bent the rim of the 
lock-et so as to take out the glass, 
and put the new face in, with the 
glass o-ver it, and it made a fine 
watch. 

Ned said it was a gold watch ; 
it did look like gold, but it was not 
pure gold. 

“Now, Ned,” said mam-ma, 
“you must look at your watch, 
and see when it is time for Rose 
and Tom to come home.” 


72 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“Yes, I will,” said the lit-tle 
boy ; and he did look at it a good 
ma-ny times, and was so hap-py 
with it that he for-got to be lone- 
some. 

When Rose and Tom came, 
Ned had to show his gold watch 
the first thing. 

“Now, Tom, you need not buy 
me a watch when you get ten 
cents; you can buy some-fing for 
you own self! ” said he. 

Rose and Tom had some-thing 
to tell, too. They told their mam- 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


73 


ma all a-bout the school, and how 
much they liked it; and she was 
glad they had such a kind and 
good teach-er. 


74 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


IX. 

THE CHIP-MUNK. 

One day Mike came for Rose 
and Tom, when school was out. 
He had Ned with him in the bug- 
gy, and he had a warm shawl for 
Rose, and a thick scarf for Tom, 
and said they were to go to ride 
with him, if they wished to. 

Of course they did ; they felt 
just like it. Ask a-ny child, just 
as he comes out of school, if he 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


75 


wants to go to ride, and see what 
lie will say ! 

It was cold, but the sun was 
bright, and so they did not mind 
the cold air. 

Mike drove in-to the woods; 
the leaves were al-most all off the 
trees, and lay in piles in the road 
— piles of bright red, yel-low, and 
brown leaves, like a gay car-pet 
on the road. 

“ 0,” cried Mike, “ see that chip- 
munk ! ” 

11 Where ? ” said Tom, and Rose, 
and Red, all at once. 


76 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“There, by the fence; now on 
that stump ; now he is off a-gain ! 
see him?” 

“0, yes, /do!” “And I, ” said 
Rose; “but I thought it was a 
squir-rel.” 

“ So it is, one kind of squir-rel ; 
but that is what they call this fel- 
low. Pat told me that where he 
was, out West, they have a kind, a 
good deal like this, and they call it 
a ( go-go ’ — what’s this it is now ! 
0, it is a go-pher ! ” 

If a-ny lit-tle folks out West 



CHIPMUNK. Page 76. 









IDA AND BABY BELL. 


77 


get hold of this book, they will 
know what Mike was try-ing to 
say, in less time than it took him 
to think of the name ; for I dare 
say they will have seen go-pliers, 
lots of times. 

“ Has he got a nest, up in a tree, 
Mike? And has he got a heap of 
nice nuts in it ? ” 

“Ho; sure this fel-low don’t like 
to go up a tree much ; I think it 
makes his head swim, like O-ney, 
when she goes up the lad-der, in 
the barn ! ” 


78 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ Then what will the poor chip- 
munk do in the cold win-ter ? ” 
said Rose. 

“Ah, but he has a nest, nev-er 
fear, on-ly he did not put it up 
a tree. Sure it is down in the 
ground, some place, and he gets to 
it by a hole, a round hole that he 
lias made, straight down, and then 
it winds round to his nest.” 

“ But, Mike, I don’t see how he 
gets his nuts and a-corns a-way 
down to his nest in the ground.” 

“Wait a bit, till you get one 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


79 


more look at him, and then you 
just mind his cheeks ; sure they 
are like two bags, when he has 
some-thing to stuff in them. And 
he takes good care to get his share 
of corn a-way wid him, in those 
bags of his, the sly thief! ” 

The chil-dren kept a bright look- 
out, and they did see, or thought 
they saw, the chip-munk scud 
a-long on the oth-er side of the 
fence, but they could not see his 
cheeks. 

That was a grand drive, and the 


80 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


lit-tle folks were in high glee when 
they got home. 

They all liked to go with Mike ; 
he was sure to tell them some nice, 
fun-ny thing. 

When their pa-pa came home, 
they told him of the chip-munk, 
and what Mike said a-bout it. 

Rose tried to think of the name 
of the kind of squir-rel that Mike 
said was found in the West, much 
like the chip-munk. 

She could not get a-ny more of 
it than “Go,” but her pa-pa told 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


81 


her at once what it was, for he had 
been out West. 

“ But there are two kinds of go- 
pher,” said her pa-pa, “ One is, as 
Mike said, ver-y like our chip- 
munk. But the oth-er, which they 
call the 1 pock-et go-pher,’ is the 
most of a rogue. 

“He does much harm to the 
farm-ers, and he is so quick to 
hear a sound, and so spry, that he 
does not of-ten get ta-ken; in- 
deed, he is not ver-y of-ten seen, 
but they see his work.” 


82 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ But, pa-pa,” said Tom, “ what 
do they call him a pock-et go-pher 
for ? Has he got a pock-et in his 
coat ? ” 

“Yes, he has a pock-et, not in 
a coat, but un-der his chin j and 
he takes good care to keep it well 
tilled” 

“0, what fun-ny things squir- 
rels are, all of them ! ” said Tom. 

“ Some day, when you come to 
town, and are at my store,” said 
pa-pa, “ I will take you in next 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


83 


to let you see bis gray squir-rel; 
he has it in a cage, that goes round 
and round, as the squir-rel moves 
it with his feet. 

“ But he need not go round when 
he does not feel like it, and he has 
a nice lit-tle house to sleep in.” 

“0, how I would like to see 
him. What is his name, pa-pa ? ” 

“His name is Bun, 

And now you may run, 

And have some fun 
At set of sun ! ” 

“0, pa-pa, how fun-ny you are!” 
cried Rose. 


84 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


But they knew pa-pa meant 
that he did not want to talk a-ny 
more just then ; so they ran off to 
play. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


85 


X. 

THE FIRST SNOW. 

“I think there will be snow 
to-night, or by morn-ing,” said 
Mike, as he came in with the pail 
of milk, one night. 

Ruth took the milk-pail from 
his hand, and gave a look out at 
the door. 

“ Yes, I think so, too,” said she ; 
“those clouds look like it, and 
there is such a chill in the air.” 


86 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Tom and Ned were both down 
stairs with Ruth, and Tom be-gan 
to jump up and down for joy at 
the word “ snow.” 

“Will yon get my sled down, 
Mike, be-fore you lock up the 
barn? so I can have it the first 
thing in the morn-ing, you know.” 

“Ah, sure you need not set your 
heart on a sled ride yet, my man. 
The first snow is apt to be light. 
At a-ny rate, I think I shall be at 
the barn in the morn-ing be-fore 
you will want your sled.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


87 


“What is snow?” asked lit-tle 
Ned. 

“ 0, ho ! what a goose ! ” cried 
Tom ; “ don’t know what snow is ! ” 

This made Ned feel bad. He 
said, “ I not a goose, Tom.” 

“ No, you are not a goose,” said 
Ruth, “ and Tom must not call you . 
such a name.” 

“You do not think, Tom, what 
a mite of a boy he was last win- 
ter, and he for-gets what it is like.” 

“Well, Ned, I’ll tell you; snow 
is soft, cold, white stuff, that lies 


88 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


on the ground, and makes it all 
white. 

“ Don’t you know my nice sled 
that hangs in the barn ? I made 
you look up to see it, one day ; it 
had a dog on it ! ” 

“Yes,” said Ned, with a wise 
. nod, “ I know ! ” 

“Well, that will go on the snow 
as fast — 0, most as fast as Dick 
can go ; and you shall have a ride 
on it. 

“And then we can make balls 
of the snow, and throw them ; and 
0, it is such fun ! ” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


89 


All this made Ned clap his 
hands and jump, too. “ 0, 1 wish 
the snow would come now” said 
he ; “ who will bring it ? will a 
man bring a big cart-load of it, 
and dump it on the ground ? ” 

“ 0, you fun-ny boy,” cried Tom ; 
“ no, it comes down from the sky, 
like rain.” 

“ Why, then God sends it to us, 
to play with — don’t He ? ” 

“Yes, God sends it,” said Tom; 
but it was a new thought to him, 
that God sent the snow that he 
liked so much. 


90 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Then Ned ran to tell his mam- 
ma a-bout the snow. He had to 
tell all that Mike and Tom had 
said ; and his eyes were as bright 
as stars, with joy. 

Rose was by her mam-ma, and 
she was glad, too, to hear that 
there would be snow. But she did 
not care quite as much for the 
snow as Tom did ; I do not think 
girls are apt to care for it as much 
as boys do — do you ? ” 

“Mam-ma,” said Rose, “if we 
should have deep snow, as we did 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


91 


last win-ter, how could we get to 
school ? I hope we shall not have 
to stay from school ! ” 

“ I do not think the snow will 
be so deep that Mike can-not get 
you to school, my dear ; you need 
not fear that. 

“Mike has more time to spare 
now than he has in the sum-mer ; 
so he can take you as well as not.” 


92 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


XI. 

THE SNOW-BIRDS. 

When Rose, and Tom, and Ned 
woke up the next morn-ing, the 
first thing they did was to spring 
out of bed, and look out to see if 
there was snow on the ground. 

“ 0, yes, yes,” cried Tom ; u see, 
Rose, the ground is all white, and 
the trees, and the fence. Look, 
Ned ! that is snow ! ” 

“ 0, Tom, if we could lift up the 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


93 


win-clow, just a lit-tle, and get a 
bit of it from the sill, to show 
Ned ! Let us both take hold, and 
see if we can ! ” 

They did lift the win-dow, and 
get a bit of snow, to Ned’s great 
joy. But they let in the cold, 
damp air, too, and it gave them a 
chill, as they stood there, with bare 
feet, in their night clothes. 

Just then mam-ma heard them, 
and looked in. 

u 0, chil-dren ! ” cried she , u what 
are you clo-ing ? You will all take 
cold ! 


94 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ Gret right back in-to bed, and 
get warm. Tom, my dear boy, 
you know you have a bad cold 
novo ; you were as hoarse as a 
bull-frog last night; I am a-fraid 
you will be sick ! ” 

Tom crept back in-to the bed, 
and did not say a word. 

His throat did feel ver-y sore, 
and he was a-fraid he would be 
sick, so that he could not play in 
the snow. 

u Lie still,” said mam-ma , 11 and 
I will ask Jane to start a fire in 
this stove to dress you by.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


95 


They did not have a fire to dress 
by, most days; there was a big 
stove in the hall, that made the 
rooms as warm as was good for 
them to sleep in; but Mrs. Dale 
felt sure they must be chilled, by 
stand-ing so long at the win-dow ; 
and she was right. 

When Jane came, she had a pan 
of coals, and some light wood, that 
soon made the stove roar. 

“Now,” said she, “it is time to 
get up.” 

Rose and Ned were not slow to 
mind. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


9B 

“ Why, Tom, what ails you t I 
thought you would be in great 
haste to get out in the snow ! ” 

Tom tried to smile, as he sat up 
in bed ; but the tears came in his 
eyes, and he said, “ 0, Jane ! my 
throat hurts me so! and I don’t 
think I can go to. school, or go out 
to play, at all.” 

“School? why, there is no 
school to-day, my man ! it is the 
last day of the week, and I hope 
your throat will soon be well, so 
you can play. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


97 


“ Cheer up ! if you can-not get 
out to play in this snow, there will 
soon be more ! ” 

So Tom got up, ancl be-gan to 
dress. His mam-ma came in, and 
when Jane told her of his sore 
throat, she looked grave. Tom 
had been so sick in the fall, that 
she did not like him to have such a 
cold so soon a-gain. 

She got a soft, warm band, and 
put some stuff on it, and put it 
round his throat. But Tom could 
not go out that day. 


98 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Rose said, 11 1 am glad it is not 
school-day, Tom, so I can stay and 
play with you.” 

They sat by the win-dow, to 
look out at the snow. It had 
stopped snow-ing now. 

The snow was not deep, so that 
a sled would run well on it; but 
Tom wished he could go and make 
snow-balls of it. 

Rose did not ask to go out, for 
fear Tom would feel more bad-ly. 
And ISTecl did not think of it, as 
long as the oth-ers did not go. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


99 


As they sat there, by the win- 
dow, they saw some dear lit-tle 
birds on the ground, close by the 
house. 

They seemed to hop a-bout in 
the snow as if they did not mind 
it a bit. 

“ 0, mam-ma,” said Tom, “ do 
come and look at these dear lit-tle 
birds ! ” 

“Yes; they are snow-birds; see 
them hop a-round to find some- 
thing to eat ! ” 

“ 0, may we give them some- 
thing ? ” said Rose. 


100 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ Yes, you may go and ask Ruth 
for some crumbs to give them; 
put on your hat and sack, and 
Wed’s, too.” 

Rose was just a-bout to run, 
when she saw that Tom looked as 
if he would cry, and she drew 
back. 

“ Go on, my love,” said her mam- 
ma ; “ Tom and I will look out and 
see you feed the birds ; I am sure 
he does not want you to stay in 
be-cause he can-not go; do you, 
Tom?” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


101 


“lo, mam-ma,” said Tom, “of 
course not ; I will look out and see 
you, Rose.” 

So Rose and Ned put on their 
things, and went to Ruth for some 
crumbs. 

Then they went out to throw 
them to the birds. 

The birds were quite tame, for 
they did want the nice crumbs 
too much to fly off and leave 
them. 

In the pic-ture you may see Rose 
and Ned, as they fed the birds. 


102 IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Mike’s lit-tle dog, Fox, had come 
up to the house with him. He 
tried to go af-ter the chil-dren, but 
he did not like the snow much. 





IDA AND BABY BELL. 


103 


He was like Ned — he did not 
know what to make of it, for he 
was but a pup. 

It made Tom laugh to see him 
lift his paw out of the snow. 

The birds did not like the look 
of Fox much, for they flew up on 
a tree. 

Rose did not see that Fox had 
come out, but she said, “Nev-er 
mind, Ned; we will throw down 
the crumbs, and then stand back 
to see them eat.” 

So they did ; and Fox ran back 


104 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


to find Mike. Then the birds 
came and ate the crumbs. 

Af-ter they flew off, Rose made 
some balls of the snow, and threw 
them up at the win-dow where 
Tom sat. 

They were too soft to break the 
glass. 

It was fun to Ned to step round, 
and see the print his feet made in 
the snow. 

“ 0, look ! ” said he ; u see all my 
foots in the snow ! ” 

Rose did not stay out as long as 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


105 


she would have liked, for she knew 
Tom must be lone-some. 

Wed want-ed to stay out and 
make more foot-prints; but he 
soon came in, too. 


106 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


XII. 

AN-OTH-EB SUN-DAY AT HOME. 

The chil-dren had not had to 
stay at home from church since 
they got well of their cough, for 
there had been bright, clear Sun- 
days all through the fall. 

But at last, when they woke up 
one Sun-day, they heard the rain 
and sleet beat on the win-dow, and 
they knew they could not get to 
town that day. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


107 


At first they felt ver-y sor-ry, 
and quite put out, when they saw 
what a storm there was ; but Jane 
said, — 

“ Don’t you know what your ma 
told you a-bout Who makes the 
storms, and how it must be all for 
the best ? ” 

“Yes,” said Rose. “And then, 
Tom, if we can-not go to church, 
we can have an-oth-er nice Sun- 
day at home.” 

“ Yes,” said Tom ; “ I’m glad it 
is Sun-day, a-ny way.” 


108 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


So, when break-fast and prayers 
were o-ver, the lit-tle folks be- 
gan to think what they could do. 
They went to mam-ma, to ask her. . 

“ I will give you a verse to learn 
now, Rose,” said she, “and Tom 
may learn one, too ; and Ned may 
look at his pic-ture books while 
you learn them. 

“I want you to keep still by 
your-selves one hour; if you get 
your ver-ses in less time, you can 
read in some of your books. 

“Then, at half past ten, I will 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


109 


read to you ; you can come to me 
at that time, in the sit-ting-room.” 

Rose and Tom took care to get 
their ver-ses by heart, the first 
thing. Rose said hers to Tom, 
and then Tom said his to Rose, to 
make sure they knew it. Then 
they each got a book to look at 
till it was time to go to their 
mam-ma. 

When it was half past ten, she 
came to call them, and they were 
glad the hour was up. 

When they had said the ver-ses, 


110 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


mam-ma read to them, from the 
Bi-ble, a-bout how Je-sus fed a 
great ma-ny men, and wo-men, 
and cliil-dren, when He had but 
five loaves, and two small fish-es, 
to do it with. 

And then (for that came next) 
how He went to His friends who 
were out on the sea in a ship, 
walk-ing on the sea. 

“ Could we walk on the sea, 
mam-ma?” said Tom; “could a-ny 
one, I mean ? ” 

“Ho, my dear; no man could 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Ill 


do it blit Je-sus, un-less he gave 
the pow-er to do it. That was 
why the men in the ship cried out 
for fear, when they saw the Lord 
walk-ing on the wa-ter. 

u But now I will read on, a-bout 
what Pe-ter said.” 

So mam-ma read how Je-sus 
said to the men, u It is I ; be not 
a-fraid.” And when Pe-ter heard 
Je-sus speak, he said, u Lord, if it 
be Thou, bid me come to Thee on 
the wa-ter.” 

And Je-sus said, “ Come.” Then 


U2 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Pe-ter got clown out of the ship to 
walk on the sea, to go to Je-sus. 

But when he saw how the wind 
blew, and made the w r aves high, 
lie was a-fraid; he for-got then 
that the Lord had told him to 
come, and that He would take 
care of him. 

And when he for-got to trust in 
his Lord, he did be-gin to sink, 
and he cried, u Lord, save me ! ” 

Then, at once, Je-sus put out his 
hand, and caught him, and held 
him up. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


113 


And He said to Pe-ter, u 0 thou 
of lit-tle faith, why didst thou 
doubt ? ” 

And the men in the ship saw all 
this, and they felt sure that Je-sus 
was the Son of God. 

When they had talked of this 
some time, mam-ma shut the book, 
and said, “ How I want some lit-tle 
birds to sing for me.” 

“ Will you please sing too, mam- 
ma ? ” said Rose ; u for we can-not 
sing much with-out you.” 

So they all sang some nice 


8 


114 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


hymns. Then they had din-ner; 
and af-ter din-ner, mam-rna had 
to go and lie down, to take a rest, 
for she did not feel well. 

But the chil-dren had a nice 
time, sit-ting with their pa-pa. 
He pat down his book, to talk to 
them ; and then, by and by, he 
took down a fine, large book from 
the book-case, which they could 
not take by tliem-selves, and laid 
it on the ta-ble, so they might all 
see the pic-tures in it. 

So, be-fore they knew it, it 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


115 


was dark, and time to light the 
lamps. 

This the chil-dren thought was 
the best part of the day. They 
liked to have their books and 
slates, or a pa-per to draw or write 
up-on, and sit a-round a bright 
lamp. 

The worst of it was, they did 
not like to leave the bright, warm 
room when bed-time came. 

But they knew they must not 
say a word when mam-ma said it 
was time to go to bed, for she 
knew best. 


116 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


If lit-tle folks sit up too late at 
night, they will not be apt to have 
bright eyes, or rosy cheeks. 

Rose and Tom had leave to sit 
up half an hour la-ter on Sun-days, 
for it was such a liap-py day to 
them, they did not like it to come 
to an end. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


117 


XIII. 

THE WHEEL-BAR-ROW. 

One af-ter-noon, Rose, and Tom, 
and Ned were down with Ruth, in 
the kitch-en. 

The kitch-en was warm, and the 
chil-dren liked to be there, and 
talk to Ruth while she was at 
work. 

Mike was at work in the yard. 
He had a wheel-bar-row, and was 
wheel-ing in some bits of board 


118 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


that he had cut up for light- wood, 
to the wood-shed. 

As Tom and Ned were look-ing 
out at him, off came the wheel 
from the bar-row, and down came 
the load. 

This made the young ones laugh 
and clap their hands. Mike saw 
them, and he made up his fist at 
them, in fun. 

“ It is well he has not got his 
wife in that wheel-bar-row,” said 
Ruth, “like the lit-tle man in the 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


119 


“What is the song? Tell us, 
Ruth.” 

So Ruth told them the old song 
of the lit-tle man that “lived by 
him-self; and all the bread and 
cheese he had, he put it on his 
shelf” 

And how the rats and mice ate 
his bread and cheese, till at last he 
went up to town to buy him a 
wife. 

“ Buy a wife ! ” said Rose. “Men 
can’t buy a wife. They shall not 
buy me, when I grow up.” 


120 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“No, that they shall not,” said 
Ruth, with a laugh; “but that is 
what the song says.” 

And then she went on to tell 
how he tried to bring his wife 
home in a wheel-bar-row, and 
“ the wheel-bar-row broke, and his 
wife had a fall.” 

“0,” cried Rose, “there is a pic- 
ture of that in a book up stairs, I 
know. I mean to run and ask 
mam-ma to let me get it and 
bring it down.” 

Rose went up and got leave to 
hunt for the book. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 121 



Soon she came down with the 
pic-ture, and it made them all. 
laugh. 




122 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“See the lit-tle wife hug that 
band-box,” said Rose. “I guess 
she has got her best hat in it.” 

“ And see all her trunks ! No 
won-der the poor wheel-bar-row 
broke ! ” said Tom. 

“ There ! ” said Ruth ; “ now you 
must take that nice book out of 
my way, and your lit-tle selves, 
too. I want to fry my cakes, and 
the fat may burn you.” 

“0, are you go-ing to make 
fried cakes ? ” said Tom ; “ do let 
us see you. I like fried cakes.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


123 


“ Yes, but you would not like a 
burn on your face or hands. Now 
you must all stay that side of the 
room, out of my way, and then 
see what I will make for you, by 
and by.” 

“ 0, I know, I know,” cried 
Rose ; “ you made me one once — 
didn’t you, Ruth ? ” 

u Hush ! you must not tell,” said 
Ruth ; and she went on with her 
work. 

Soon the fat be-gan to boil hard, 
and Ruth threw in her cakes, and 


124 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


then out they came, nice ancl 
brown. 

Rose and the boys could but 
just wait on their side of the 
room ; but Ruth did not mean to 
make them wait long. 

Soon she came and put some 
odd things in-to the hot fat, with 
great care; and then, when they 
were done, she took them out on a 
plate, and brought them to the 
chil-dren. 

How they did laugh There 
w r as a dough boy for Tom, and one 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


125 


for Ned, and a cake, in the shape 
of a girl for Rose. But the feet 
of the girl had puffed out, as big 
as her head, and one boy had a 
great wen on one side of his head, 
and the oth-er had lost one arm in 
the hot fat, and Ruth had laid it 
by his side. 

But they were just as good to 
eat as if they were of the best 
shape that ev-er was seen. 

Ruth said she made them a 
good shape, but they did not like 
the hot fat, and got all in a twist 
try-ing to get out. 


126 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


This made Ned put on a long 
face ; he thought Ruth meant that 
the dough boys and girl did feel 
the heat. But he saw the rest all 
laugh ; so he laughed, too. 

Then Ruth put some wee bits 
of cakes in to boil, and they came 
out just like brown nuts. 

And mam-ma, who came down 
to see what they were all a-bout, 
said they might have tea at a lit- 
tle ta-ble, and Rose might set it 
out with her tea-set, and have the 
lit-tle nut-cakes, and some bread 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


127 


and but-ter, cut small and thin, 
and a lit-tle bit of a glass dish 
of jam. 

So they set the ta-ble in great 
glee, and brought all the dolls to 
tea. 

Rose had the head of the ta-ble, 
to pour out the milk in-to the lit- 
tle cups. They called it tea, but 
they did not drink real tea ; it was 
not good for them ; and, more than 
that, they did not like the taste of 
it as well as of good, sweet milk. 


128 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


XIV. 

A FUN-NY DAY. 

One day when Rose and Tom 
were to start for school, Jane came 
and gave Rose a lit-tle note to take 
to Mrs. Bond. 

u Mrs. Bond ! Did not mam-ma 
say Miss El-la, Jane? ” 

u Ro, it is for Mrs. Bond ; don’t 
for-get to give it to her.” 

So Rose gave the note to Mrs. 
Bond, with great care. Soon af-tev 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 129 

as Rose sat in school, she saw Mrs. 
Bond go out of the gate, with her 
hood and cloak on, but Rose did 
not think where she might be 
go-ing. 

When the chil-dren had had 
their play at noon, and had eat-en 
their lunch, and were in school 
a-gain, who should come to the door 
but lit-tle Ned, with Mrs. Bond ! 

Tom and Rose were so glad to 
see him ! and Ned’s face was all 
smiles, when he saw them in their 
seats. 


9 


130 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ Here is a lit-tle boy who wants 
to come to school to-day, Miss 
El-la,” said Mrs. Bond ; “ can you 
find a place for him ? ” 

“ 0, yes, to be sure I can,” said 
Miss El-la ; and she gave Ned a 
kiss, and said she was glad he had 
come. Then she let him sit by 
Tom, and Fred Ray. 

Tom gave him his slate to mark 
on, and Ned sat as still as a-ny of 
them ; he seemed to think school 
was a fine place for boys and girls. 
I think so, too: such a school as 
that. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


131 


When school was out, Rose 
went to get her hood and sack 
from the nail ; but Miss El-la said, 
“Wait a lit-tle while, Rose, my 
dear; I think moth-er wants to 
see you.” 

Just then, Mrs. Bond came in 
and said, “ Rose and Tom, would 
you like to stay and take tea with 
us? Ned has come to stay, and 
your mam-ma says you may stay, 
too.” 

“ 0, do” cried A-my and Lu-cy ; 
“ it will be so nice ; we will have 
lots of fun ! ” 


132 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“I should like to ver-y much” 
said Rose. And Tom said the 
same. 

“ Did you go to our house, and 
get Red, and ask mam-ma ? ” said 
Rose. 

Mrs. Bond smiled, and said, 
“Yes;” and Rose said, “I think 
you are kind.” 

Mrs. Bond said, “ I am glad you 
like to stay, my dar-ling. And 
now, if Miss El-la will let us, sup- 
pose we turn the school-room in-to 
a play-room, for the rest of the 
day ; it is nice and warm here.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


133 


u I think it will be a good plan,” 
said Miss El-la. “ Come, girls, we 
will put the ink all out of the way, 
and move the desks back.” 

So they all went to work, and 
soon the room looked like a-ny 
thing but a school-room ; for they 
put the books, and slates, and ink 
out of the way, and then the girls 
got their dolls, and dolls’ bed, and 
chest of draw-ers, and all the toys 
they had, down in-to the room. 

A-my and Rose had a good 
play with dolls, and did not care 


134 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


for much else; for they did love to 
dress dolls, both of them, as you 
will think when you look at this 
pic-ture. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


135 


As for Lu-cy, she did not think 
so much of dolls, but she loved 
live dolls — lit-tle chil-dren — to 
play with ; so she had her fun in a 
talk and a romp with Tom and lit- 
tle nSTed ; she thought Ned was 
just the dear-est lit-tle boy she 
ev-er saw. 

When they had done tea, Rose 
said, “I hope mam-ma will think 
to send Mike for us, for it is quite 
dark out-doors.” 

u Mike will come for you, if they 
think best to have you go home 


136 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


to-night,” said Mrs. Bond ; “ but I 
think your mam-ma will let you 
stay with us all night.” 

Bose looked at Mrs. Bond with- 
out a word, for she did not know 
what to think. 

Tom said, “Why, how can we, 
Mrs. Bond? How can we go to 
sleep here? Have you got some 
cot beds and a crib ? ” 

“Yes, I have a good big crib, 
that I keep for lit-tle folks who 
may come to see me; Ned shall 
have that, if you stay, and we will 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


137 


find a nice place for you and for 
Rose.” 

“Well,” said Rose, at last, “I do 
think this is a fun-ny day.” 

“ Why ? ” asked Miss El-la, with 
a smile. 

“ Why, Jane gave me that note 
when we came to school ; and then 
Mrs. Bond went to our house ; and 
then Ned came to school ; and now 
mam-ma is go-ing to let us stay 
out all night, and we nev-er did 
be-fore, at a-ny place, with-ont 
her.” 


138 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“Well,” said A-my, and she gave 
a jump up and down, “I think it 
is re-al fun, a-ny way! We will 
have such fun when we go to bed ! 
We can guess names in the dark, 
you know, and all such things ! ” 
Lit-tle Aed did not quite know 
how he liked this plan ; he be-gan 
to want to see his pa-pa and 
mam-ma, and his face looked quite 
grave. 

But they all set to work to 
make him laugh, and soon he was 
in high glee a-gain, and he did not 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


139 


cry at all, when he was put to bed 
in a strange room. Rose went 
with him to help un-dress him, 
and make him feel more at home ; 
and he was soon fast a-sleep in the 
big old crib. 


140 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


XV. 

A HAP-PY DAY. 

The next day, the chil-dren all 
set to work, af-ter break-fast, to 
take the dolls and toys up stairs, 
and help Miss El-la get the school- 
room in or-der once more. 

When the oth-er chil-dren came 
to school, they seemed to think it 
odd to see Rose, and Tom, and 
lit-tle Ned Dale all in the room 
with Lu-cy and A-my, as if they 
lived there. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


141 


“Why, how did you get here so 
soon ? ” said Nell Ray ; “ we came 
as soon as we had done our break- 
fast.” 

“Ah, but we have been here all 
night ! ” said Tom. 

At this, Nell made her mouth in 
the shape of a big round 0, and 
her eyes, too. She could not see 
in-to it, at all. 

The school-time was nice, and 
Miss El-la was kind, as she was at 
all times. But Rose and Tom 
could not help wish-ing that it was 


142 IDA AND BABY BELL. 

time for school to be out, for they 
were not used to stay-ing from 
home so long. 

As for Ned, he was ver-y still 
and grave the last hour of school, 
and Miss El-la took him on her 
lap, and asked him “if he were 
kome-sick ” 

Just at noon, and just as Miss 
El-la said school was out, who 
should drive up to the door but 
Mike him-self! 

He brought a note for Mrs. 
Bond, too ; and he came in to ask 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


143 


Miss El-la if she would let Rose 
and Tom out for that day, for their 
mam-ma want-ed them at home. 

Miss El-la said, “Yes;” and you 
may be sure it did not take the 
young ones long to put on their 
things. 

Ned, in his haste to help him- 
self, put on his sack coat up-side 
down, which made all the chil-dren 
laugh. 

But at last they were on the 
way home. As they drove a-long, 
Mike said, “Ah, what would you 


144 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


give to know what your mam-ma 
has got to show you ? ” 

“ What ? What ? 0, do tell us, 
Mike ! ” cried they all. But Mike 
shook his head, and laughed, and 
said, “ Hold on till you get home ; 
we are most there.” 

Then they pulled his coat, and 
Tom got hold of his arm, and Rose 
of his ear, in fun, to make him 
tell. But just then they drove in- 
to the yard, and then they left 
Mike in peace, and ran in to see 
for them-selves. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 145 

“Jane, where is mam-ma, and 
what has she got to show us?” 
they all cried, at once. 

“ Hush ! ” said Jane ; “ be still 
now, and you shall go and see. 
But your mam-ma is sick, and you 
must not make a noise, or you will 
make her head ache.” 

So they took off their out-door 
things, and then went up on tip- 
toe to their mam-ma’s room. 

Some one, whom they did not 
know, came to o-pen the door. 
She looked like a nice, kind, old 


10 


146 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


la-dy, and she had a cap and 
specs on. 

When she saw three lit-tle chil- 
dren at the door, as still as mice, 
she smiled at them, and said, 
“ Come in, my dears ! your mam- 
ma wants to see you.” 

So Rose and Tom went up to 
the bed to kiss their mam-ma, and 
the old la-dy took Red in her arms 
to see her, too. 

Red was just go-ing to jump on 
the bed to give his mam-ma a 
good hug; but the old la-dy held 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


147 


him fast, and said, “Take care! 
wait a bit, my dear ! ” 

Then Rose said, “0, mam-ma, 
what have yon got to show us ? ” 
And mam-ma turned down the 
bed-clothes a lit-tle, and told them 
to look. 

There, on her arm, fast a-sleep, 
lay a dear lit-tle mite of a ba-by ! 

Rose, and Tom, and Ned looked 
down at the ba-by, and then up at 
their mam-ma, and then at the 
dear lit-tle round head, with its 
soft, brown hair, once more. They 


148 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


did not know what to make of it, 
at all. 

“Well,” said the old la-dy, “how 
do you like this dear lit-tle sis- 
ter ? ” 

“0, mam-ma, is it ours? is it 
ours to keep ? ” cried Rose. 

And Tom said, “Is it a re-al, 
live ba-by, mam-ma ? ” 

“Yes, dear ones, it is a re-al, 
live ba-by, and it is ours to keep, 
and to love dear-ly .” 

Just then their pa-pa came in. 
He had to go to town for an hour 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


149 


or two, but lie had come home on 
the noon train. 

“0, pa-pa,” cried Tom, as he 
sprang to meet him, “ do just come 
and see what we have got ! ” 

“ I think I know what we have 
got,” said pa-pa, with a laugh. 
“ And Aunt Kate sent our ba-by a 
good kiss.” And pa-pa bent down 
to give it. I think he gave the 
mam-ma one, too. 

“Did it come here be-fore you 
went to town ? ” asked Rose. 

“ 0, pa-pa, where did it come 


150 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


from? Who gave us our new 
ba-by ? ” 

“God gave it to us, my dear 
boy ; God made this dear ba-by 
to be your lit-tle sis-ter.” 

“0, 0,” cried Tom; “did He 
send her down from the sky ? 
and did an an-gel bring her 
to us ? ” 

“0, no, my dear; God made 
her here on the earth ” 

Tom, and Rose, and Ned looked 
at each oth-er, and then gave a 
look round the room. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


151 


“Will you not thank God for 
giv-ing you this dear lit-tle sis-ter 
to love 1 ” said pa-pa. 

The lit-tle ones all said, “ Yes,” 
as if they meant it, and then they 
bent o-ver to look at the dear 
ba-by a-gain. 

Lit-tle Ned looked up in his 
mam-ma’s face, when he saw how 
the ba-by lay on her arm, and 
said, “You is my mam-ma, too — 
isn’t you, mam-ma ? ” 

“ 0, yes, in-deed, my pet,” said 
his mam-ma; “I am your own 


152 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


mam-ma, just the same ; and ba-by 
is your own lit-tle sis-ter.” 

The look of love that his mam- 
ma gave him made lit-tle Ned feel 
all right and hap-py. He gave 
the ba-by’s cheek a soft pat with 
his lit-tle hand. 

“ 0, you will wake her up,” cried 
Rose. 

“ I wish she would wake,” said 
Tom; “I do so want to see her 
eyes, and hands, and feet ! ” 

“ 0 ! has the ba-by got some 
feet?” said Ned; “can she walk?” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


153 


“ She has two dear lit-tle feet, 
but she can-not walk yet, my pet,” 
said mam-ma. 

“ Come,” said their pa-pa, “ I 
think we will all go down stairs 
now, and see if Ruth has some 
din-ner for us; I fear we shall 
make mam-ma’s head ache, if we 
stay here now ” 

“ May we take the ba-by down, 
too ? ” said Ned ; “I will draw her 
in my lit-tle cart, so she need not 
walk a bit ! ” 

“ 0, no ! ” said pa-pa ; “ let ba-by 


154 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


sleep now in her warm nest; by 
and by, may be, Aunt-y Bates will 
let you come and see her a-gain .” 

“ Yes,” said the kind old la-dy, 
“by and by, when she is a- wake, 
you shall come and see her.” 

The chil-dren did not like to 
leave their mam-ma and the dear 
new ba-by; but they knew they 
must do as their pa-pa said; so 
they said, “Good by,” and went 
soft-ly out. 

“ What dear, good chil-dren 
they are ! ” said the old la-dy to 


IDA AND BABY B ELT,. 


155 


their mam-ma, when they were 
gone. 

Their mam-ma thought so, too, 
and she smiled and felt ver-y 
hap-py. 

0, if all you dear lit-tle pets did 
but know how glad you make 
your kind friends when you are 
good, and how sad they feel when 
you are bad, and do not mind 
what they say, how you would try, 
and pray God to help you to be 
good, all the time ! 


156 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


XVI. 

THE DEAR BA-BT. 

Rose, and Tom, and Red did 
not like to sit down to din-ner 
with-out their dear mam-ma ; it 
was so strange to them. 

But their pa-pa did his best to 
make them hap-py ; he told Rose 
to sit in her mam-ma’s place, and 
play she was the mam-ma; and 
then he said fun-ny things, to 
make them laugh. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


157 


“ By and by, mam-ma will come 
down stairs — won’t she, pa-pa ? ” 
said ISTed. 

“Yes, be-fore ma-ny days I 
hope she will be well. And by 
and by that ba-by sis-ter will want 
to come to the ta-ble; will you 
give her your high chair, when she 
does ? ” 

“ 0, yes, ’ course I will ! Why, I 
shall be a man then ; wortit I, 
pa-pa ? ” 

“ Yot quite, I think ; near to it, 
I dare say.” 


158 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


This made Jane smile, as she 
was cut-ting up Ned’s din-ner for 
him. 

“ Why,” said Ned, “ you must 
not laugh, Jane ; ’ course I shall be 
a man, one day.” 

“Shall I tell you, Ned,” said pa- 
pa, “ what you did, the first time 
you sat up in your high chair with 
us, at the ta-ble ? ” 

“ What did I do ? ” said Ned. 

“ You took up a spoon, and beat 
Rose on the head with it, so that 
she was glad to move off from you.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


159 


Af-ter din-ner, Jane told the 
chil-dren they must play by them- 
selves, and be as still as they 
could, for she had some work to 
see to. 

“ Do not go to your mam-ma’s 
room till yon are called,” said she. 

Just then, Mrs. Bates came to 
get her din-ner; she could not 
leave be-fore. 

She heard what Jane said. 
Rose, and Tom, and Re d all stood 
near, while she ate her din-ner. 

They did not know who she 


160 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


was, but they saw she had some- 
thing to do with the dear ba-by. 

At last, Rose said, “Will you 
call us, when we may come and 
see our ba-by, and mam-ma?” 

“ Yes, my dear, I will be sure 
to ; for I know such good lit-tle 
chil-dren will go down, when I say 
it is time.” 

“ 0, yes, ma’am,” said Rose ; but 
in her heart there was a great wish 
that she could see her ba-by sis-ter 
all day. 

The nurse seemed to know what 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 161 

was in her mind, for she said, u In 
a few days, I hope, you can see 
the sweet ba-by all you wish ; and 
I dare say you can hold her in 
your lap. Let me see ! How old 
are you ? ” 

“ I shall be sev-en next month, 
mam-ma says.” 

11 0 ! then you will make a nice 
lit-tle nurse ; and how that ba-by 
will love you all, if you are kind 
to her ! ” 

These words made the tears 
come in Rose’s eyes, just for joy. 


11 


162 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


She was so glad that she had a 
re-al lit-tle ba-by sis-ter to play 
with, and to love. 

When the nurse was gone back, 
the chil-dren did not do much but 
talk of the ba-by, and tell what 
they would do for her when she 
grew big-ger. 

It was not long be-fore Mrs. 
Bates came to the head of the 
stairs, and called them. 

“Ba-by is a-wake now,” she 
said, “ and you may come and see 
her.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


163 


So they all ran up. Mrs. Bates 
took the ba-by on her lap, so they 
could have a good look at her. 

“ 0, what dear lit-tle pink 
hands!” cried Rose. 

“See her make up her fist!” 
said Tom ; “ she wants to fight us.” 

“ Why don’t she o-pen her eyes 
wide, and look at us ? ” 

“0, she will in a day or two, 
when her dear lit-tle eyes are 
more used to the light.” 

“I want to see her feet,” said 
Ned; “please let me see ba-by ’s 
feet.” 


164 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“Yes, here they are; see! just 
as ma-ny toes on each wee foot as 
you have on yours ! ” 

“ See her kick them out ! 0, 

what a dear lit-tle fun-ny ba-by 
she is ! May I kiss her ? ” 

“Yes, to be sure you may.” 

So each one gave her a kiss, a 
soft kiss, for fear they might hurt 
her. 

“ 0, mam-ma,” said Rose, “ has 
the ba-by got a name?” 

“ I think we will call her Bell,” 
said mam-ma ; “ will you like that 
name ? ” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


1S5 


“Yes, it is nice; but, mam-m-a, 
why don’t you name her Kate, for 
dear Aunt Kate ? ” 

“ Be-cause, dear, Aunt Kate will 
like best to have me give her this 
name. Her whole name will be 
Is-a-bel, and it was the name of a 
dear friend who is dead, whom 
Aunt Kate loved as well as I did.” 

“ It is a re-al nice name,” said 
Rose ; “ 0, you dear ba-by Bell, I 
do love you so much ! ” 

Kow the ba-by be-gan to cry, 
and she made such an odd face 


106 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


that the chil-dren could not but 
laugh. 

Then their mam-ma looked 
tired, nurse thought; so she said, 
“ Now you dear lit-tle ones must 
run down and play. Let me see ! 
you all sleep right in this next 
large room?” 

“ Yes,” said Tom. 

“Well, then, when you go to 
bed, you can come in and kiss 
mam-ma and ba-by ‘good-night.’ 
Then in the morning you shall 
come in again.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


167 


So Rose said, “Come, Ned, let 
us go and play that Lu-lu was 
ba-by Bell, and you give her a 
ride in your cart.” 

“Well,” said Ned; and so they 
all went down stairs. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


168 


XVII. 

THE SLEIGH-RIDE. 

When the young folks went 
down stairs, Tom gave a look out 
of the win-do w, and cried out, u 0, 
the snow ! the snow ! just look, 
Rose ! see how it comes down ! 
the ground is all white, so soon ! ” 
In fact, the snow had been fall- 
ing for some time; but the chil- 
dren had had no thought for a-ny 
thing but the dear new ba-by. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


169 


“ I do hope it will snow all 
night, just as fast as it does now,” 
said Tom; “and then won’t we 
have some fun ? ” 

“ Then will your sled go, Tom ? ” 
said ISTed. 

“ Yes, to be sure it will ; and the 
sleigh, you know, Ned ; won’t it be 
nice to have a sleigh-ride? Mike 
said he would try to take us the 
first day that the sleigh would 
run ” 

“We have bells on the horse, 
Ned, when we have a sleigh-ride ; 


170 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


and then, when the horse trots, the 
bells go ‘ jing-a-ling ! jing-a-ling ! ’ 
and it is such fun to hear them as 
we go!” 

“ 0, 1 do wish we could have a 
sleigh-ride now ! ” said lit-tle Ned. 
u Make haste, snow, and come 
down fast!” 

The snow did come as fast as it 
could, and Rose, and Tom, and 
Ned stood some time at the win- 
dow to watch it, and to see how 
all things out of doors got a nice, 
white dress on. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


171 


But soon it grew dark, — too 
dark to see out from the win-dow. 

Their pa-pa had been out, and 
when he came in to tea he had to 
stand in the hall, and stamp, and 
shake him-self, and at last send 
Rose for a broom to brush the 
snow off his coat. 

Tom said, “ 0, pa-pa, don’t you 
think there will be snow on the 
ground now, so we can have a 
sleigh-ride ? ” 

“It looks like it, my boy; I 
think you will find a-bout as much 


172 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


snow as you care for, when you 
wake up in the morn-ing. But 
don’t get a sore throat a-gain, in 
your haste to play in the snow.” 

The ohil-dren were glad to go 
to bed that night, so that morn-ing 
would come soon; but they did 
not for-get to go in and kiss ba-by 
Bell and mam-ma, as nurse Bates 
said they might. 

“What a dear lit-tle thing she 
is, mam-ma ! ” said Rose ; “ 0, I 
am so, so glad that I have got a 
sis-ter now ! ” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


173 


Rose did not for-get what her 
pa-pa said a-bont the ba-by, for 
she knelt down by her-self to 
thank God for this good gift. 



And when they all said their 
prayers, be-fore they got in-to bed, 
they said, “God bless our dear 
ba-by sis-ter, too.” 


174 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


In the morn-ing, the snow was 
so deep that Mike had to go to 
work with a big snow-spade, made 
of wood, and dig a path to the 
front gate, and one to the barn. 

Rose, and Tom, and Ned, all had 
their warm sacks on, and went out 
to see him, and Tom had a small 
spade to help. 

Then Mike got out the sleigh, 
and put the bells on old Dick, and 
he got a warm fur robe to put in 
the sleigh. 

ITe was to take Mr. Dale to the 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


175 


cars first, and then he was to come 
back and take Rose and Tom to 
school. 

Of course they all went in to 
see the ba-by be-fore they went to 
school. 

The sleigh-ride to school was so 
nice, that the chil-dren did not like 
to stop ; but Mike told them that 
if the sun came out he was to 
come for them, af-ter school, with 
Ned, to take a ride ; and they were 
to ask A-my and Lu-cy to go, too. 

0, how much there was to be 


176 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


said when they got in-to the 
school-room ! 

A-my, and Lu-cy, and Nell, and 
Fred, and all the rest, had to hear 
all a-bout the ba-by sis-ter ; and it 
was great news, you may be sure ! 

Then Rose told the girls they 
were to have a sleigh-ride, af-ter 
school, if the sun came out; and 
they all made a rush to the win- 
dow, to see if it did not shine 
through the clouds. 

There was a bright spot in one 
place, and Lu-cy said she knew it 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 177 

would be clear by the time school 
was out. 

Ruth had put up a nice lunch 
for Rose and Torn ; they took 
their lunch to school most of the 
days, now it was so cold. 

The sun did come out, just in 
time, and Mike came, with Ned in 
the sleigh; and when the girls and 
Tom got in, he tucked the robes 
in close a-bout them, to keep 
them, as he said, — 

“As warm and snug 
As a bug in a rug.” 


12 


178 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Old Dick went as fast as if he 
liked to trot in the snow. The air 
was keen and cold, but the}" were 
so snug they did not mind it at 
all, and they had a grand time 
with their first sleigh-ride. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


179 


XVIII. 

TWO VIS- ITS. 

A day or two af-ter this, Aunt 
Kate and I-da came out to spend 
the day, and see the ba-by. 

Rose and Tom did not go to 
school that day ; they had leave to 
stay at home and see I-da. 

I-da was just wild with joy 
wdien she saw the ba-by. 

She said, u 0, mam-ma, put it in 
a bas-ket, and let us take it home, 


180 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


to be our ba-by, just as we did the 
kit-ty!” 

Ned ran up at this, and put his 
arms round the ba-by, and his face 
was quite red as he said, “_ZVo, 
I-da; she is our ba-by, and you 
can’t have her to take home.” 

Rose and Tom did but laugh, 
for they knew their mam-ma 
would not let a-ny one take the 
ba-by. 

“ I will tell you, I-da dear,” said 
ba-by’s mam-ma, “ what we will 
do. It is most Christ-mas time, 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


181 


and then you and your pa-pa and 
mam-ma are to come out here 
a-gain, and you can see the ba-by 
as much as you want to.” 

u 0, is it most Christ-mas, mam- 
ma ? ” said Rose. 

u Yes, in-deed, it is, dear ; Christ- 
mas will be here in four weeks 
more.” 

“ 0, joy, joy ! ” cried Rose and 
Tom. I-da and Yed did not know 
so well what Christ-mas meant, 
but they had to say, u Joy, joy ! ” 
too, and jump a-bout, and clap 


182 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


their hands, just as the oth-ers 
did. 

Nurse Bates held up her hand 
and said, “Hush,” in her soft way. 

“Come,” said Aunt Kate, “let 
us all go down, and let mam-ma 
rest a while.” 

So Aunt Kate went down with 
them, and they all got round her, 
and told her all the news. 

Then it was time for din-ner, 
and af-ter din-ner Aunt Kate went 
up to see their mam-ma a-gain, 
and left I-da with the chil-dren. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


183 


Mike was to drive in-to town, to 
take Aunt Kate and I-da, and 
bring Mr. Dale home. 

Aunt Kate had a talk with her 
sis-ter, to coax her to say that the 
cliil-dren might go in-to town with 
her, and stay till Sun-day, which 
was the next day but one* then 
their pa-pa could come in to 
church, and bring them home in 
the sleigh, af-ter church. 

“Do let me take them,” said 
Aunt Kate; “I can take care of 
them as well as not, and they do 


184 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


not know what to do with them- 
selves, now you are sick.” 

At last mam-ma said they might 
go, and then Jane was called in 
haste, to look up the clothes they 
would want, and pack them in 
a bag. 

“ If you can spare me, ma’am,” 
said Jane, “ I might go in on the 
train, and help take care of the 
chil-dren, if Mrs. Wells has a 
place for me to stay.” 

“I think that will be a good 
plan, Jane; yes, I think we can 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


185 


spare you, and Mrs. Wells will 
have her hands full with them all.” 

“ There will be room in the 
sleigh for J ane — will there not ? ” 
said Aunt Kate; “we can take 
Ned and I-da in our laps.” 

All this time, the lit-tle ones did 
not know a word of the plan ; but 
now Jane went to call them, for it 
was time to dress them to go. 

You may guess how pleased 
they all were when they heard it : 
to stay two whole days at Aunt 
Kate’s ! 0, what good news it was! 


186 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


They were glad Jane was to go, 
for it would seem more like home, 
if she were there to take care of 
them at night. To tell the truth, 
they had all felt a lit-tle strange, 
the night they were to sleep at 
Mrs. Bond’s — al-most home-sick, 
just at bed-time. 

You would have thought Mike 
had a whole nest of chip-ping 
birds in the sleigh, as he drove 
in-to town, the young ones were 
so gay, and so full of fun. 

I can-not tell you all they did 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


187 


while they were at Aunt Kate’s; 
how fun-ny Un-cle Will was ! and 
what a nice walk they had with 
Jane, to see all the shops! and 
what nice plays with I-da ! 

Pa-pa came round to see them, 
and he took din-ner at Aunt 
Kate’s. He said he did not know 
what he must do to her for run- 
ning off with all his pets. 

“ 0, pa-pa ! not all ! ” said Rose ; 
u you have got one at home.” 

u Why, to be sure ! ” cried pa- 
pa ; “I have got four now ! Well, 


188 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


as I am so rich, may be I can give 
some of you to Un-cle Will and 
Aunt Kate .” 

“ 0, no ! ” cried all three, at once. 

“ Why not ? You seem to love 
to come here.” 

u 0, yes ! ” said Tom ; “ they are 
nice, but you are best ! ” 

This made them all laugh. 

The chil-dren all sent a kiss to 
their mam-ma and the ba-by, when 
their pa-pa went home. 

The next day was a fine day, 
and they all went to church. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


189 


And af-ter church, they were 
tucked in-to the sleigh a-gain, to 
drive home with their pa-pa. 

“ Good by ! ” cried lit-tle I-da ; 
“when Kist-mas comes, we sail 
come and see you l” 


190 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


XIX. 

THE SNOW FORT. 

“Tom,” said Mike, one day, while 
the snow lay on the ground, “ why 
don’t you make a snow fort ? ” 

Tom had not seen such a thing, 
and he did not know what Mike 
could mean. 

So Mike told him how to make 
it, and laid one row of blocks of 
snow with his spade, for Tom to 
build on. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


191 


“Now,” said he, “if you and 
Rose can build up the fort, I will 
try to make a snow man for you, 
in-side of it ; Ned can help too, I 
dare say ” 

Tom ran to call Rose, and tell 
her of the new play ; and she and 
Ned put on their snow boots, and 
sacks, and mit-tens, to go out and 
help. 

They had not much time to 
work be-fore dark. “ 0, dear ! ” 
said Tom, “ I wish the days were 
not so short.” 


192 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“If the days were long/’ said 
Jane, who had come to call them 
in, “you would have no snow to 
work with ; when the days are 
long, it is warm, and the grass is 
green.” 

“Why, that’s so!” said Tom. 
“Well, then I like the short days.” 

When pa-pa came home, he had 
to be told all a-bout the fort, and 
he was so kind as to go out and 
look at it, by the light of the 
moon. 

“That is ver-y well be-gun,” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 193 

said lie ; “ did you lay a corner- 
stone ? ” 

Rose and Tom had to ask what 
that meant. 

So pa-pa told them that when a 
church or a large hall was built, 
the cor-ner stone was laid with 
great pains, and some-times ma-ny 
would come to see. 

In a hole in the stone was put a 
box, with books and pa-pers in it, 
and this was closed, and the oth-er 
stones laid on it. 

u What do they put the books 


13 


194 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


and things in the box for, if they 
are to build right on top of it, so 
they can-not get at it ? ” asked 
Rose. 

“ It is done so that, if the church 
should burn down, or if, af-ter long 
years, they should pull it down, 
these books and pa-pers would be 
found there.” 

“ I wish we had a box to put in 
the cor-ner of our fort,” said Tom. 

“Well, I will get you one when 
we have had our tea,” said his 
pa-pa. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


195 


So lie gave them a small, strong 
wood-en box, which was just the 
thing. 

“When your fort melts down, 
you will find your box,” said he. 

In the morn-ing, the chil-dren 
were in great haste to be up and 
dressed, that they might work at 
the fort be-fore they went to 
school. 

Pa-pa gave them a pa-per, full 
of large pic-tures, when he gave 
them the box. 

They put this in, but they want- 
ed some-thing more. 


196 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“We must not put our nice 
books in,” said Rose, in her wise 
way; “for when the fort melts, 
they may get wet.” 

“ 0, here is a book that will just 
do,” cried Tom; “it is an old 
thing, and pa-pa can-not want it, 
or it would not be round this 
room” 

It was a blank book; I mean 
that it was not print-ed, but was 
made to write in. 

Rose thought this would do; 
and so they shut the box, and dug 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


197 


a bole for it in the cor-ner block 
of the fort. They put on a few 
more blocks of snow, and that was 
all they had time to do be-fore 
school. 

But when they were gone, Mike, 
as he was round in the yard, put 
on a row of big blocks, “ to help 
them a bit,” as he said. 

When the young ones came 
home, they were in great glee to 
see how high the fort had grown ; 
they knew Mike had been at work 
at it, of course. 


198 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


They had to bring out a bench 
to stand on to work at the fort, for 
they were but small tots, you 
know. 

Be-fore dark Mike came by, to 
go and milk the cow, and he said, 
“There, I should say that is as 
high as you need to make it. 

“Wow we will have the snow 
man in there, and you shall help 
me fix him up, with eyes, and 
nose, and mouth, and a pipe in his 
mouth.” 

“0, I wish we could do it to- 
night,” said Tom. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


199 


“0, don’t you be in a twitch,” 
said Mike 5 “ the next day will 
soon be here.” 

When pa-pa came home, he 
went to the din-ing room, as if to 
look for some-thing. As he did 
not seem to find it, he went in-to 
the oth-er rooms. 

As they sat down to tea, he 
said, “Jane, have you seen a store- 
book round here? I am sure I 
left it here when I went to town 
this morn-ing. I put it down to 
change my coat, and went otf 
with -out it.” 


200 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“No, sir,” said Jane; “I came 
in to dust the room as soon as you 
were gone, and I did not see it.” 

Rose and Tom looked up at this. 

“What kind of a book was it, 
pa-pa ? ” 

“ A blank book, my dear, with 
cov-ers like this.” 

Rose and Tom grew red, and 
Tom said, “ 0, pa-pa, we thought it 
was an old book you did not want, 
and we put it in the box in our 
cor-ner stone.” 

Mr. Dale tried to look grave, 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


201 


but he could not keep back a 
smile ; nor could Jane. 

Mr. Dale got up to look out at 
the fort, but he could not see it 
well. 

“Have you put much snow on 
it ? ” he asked. 

“Yes, sir ; Mike put on a big lot.” 

“0, dear! Well, I think my 
store-book is done for. I must go 
to 1 Day and Gibbs,’ and tell them 
that my book is in a heap of snow, 
and they must make me a new 
one.” 


202 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Pa-pa put on a long face, as lie 
said this, and Rose and Tom did 
not know which was best, to laugh 
or cry. 

“Well, my dears,” said pa-pa, at 
last, “ there is no such great harm 
done, in this case ; but do not take 
a book a-gain in such a way, till 
you ask if you may have it. You 
must learn not to touch things that 
are not your own.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


203 


XX. 

SPILL-ING THE INK. 

Rose and Tom had a talk, when 
they went up to bed, a-bout the 
store-book. 

Tom said, “How kind pa-pa 
was, when he knew we took his 
book ! I mean to try not to do 
a-ny thing more that will vex him.” 

Tom did mean to try, but it was 
not long be-fore he did a sad thing 
a-gain. 


204 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


This was the way of it. There 
came a hard rain one day, and it 
made the snow melt, and give 
way, fast. 

The snow man lost his pipe; 
then he cried his eyes out; then 
he grew so warm and soft, that he 
went drip, drip, drip, till there was 
no more of him. 

And his fort sank down, too. 

The roads were so wet, that the 
chil-dren could not go to school. 

And, worst of all, their mam-ma 
was not so well that day ; and pa- 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


205 


pa looked grave as he went off to 
town ; and Jane had to say, “ Hush, 
Tom ! come here, Ned ! ” all day, 
for fear they would make mam-ma 
worse. 

Then Rose felt bad, be-cause she 
could not go in and see ba-by Bell, 
but must stay out and try to keep 
the lit-tle boys hap-py at play. 

In fact, Rose was cross, and was 
not kind to Tom and Ned. 

She took one of her books, and 
sat down by her-self to read ; and 
Ned went down to see Ruth. 


206 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Tom went a-bout to see what he 
might do. 

There was a small room, back 
of the par-lor, where Mr. Dale had 
his books, and his ta-ble to write 
on, and maps, and such things. 

He did not like to have the lit- 
tle ones go in-to this room when 
he was not there, for some-times 
there were pa-pers, and such 
things, left on the ta-ble, which 
were of great use to him. 

Tom had been told this; but 
this day he stood at the door of 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


207 


the room to look in. No one was 
by to say, “ Don’t go there, Tom.” 

There was a still voice in his 
heart that said so, but Tom did not 
mind it. 

He had his w T hip in his hand, 
and he said to him-self, “What a 
nice horse the arm of pa’s chair 
will be ! I mean to have a ride ; 
I will not touch pa’s things.” 

As if he need look up a nice 
horse, when he had his own rock- 
ing horse, that most lit-tle boys 
•would be glad to ride ! 


208 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


But if he had had no horse at 
all, he ought not to have gone 
in-to his pa-pa’s room. 

“ 0, here is pa-pa’s cane ! ” said 
Tom * “ my whip is not as big as 
I need for such a stout horse; I 
will take this.” 

So Tom got up on the arm of 
the chair, and put a string round 
it, for a bri-dle, and cried, 
“ Get up.” 

But as he struck out the cane to 
whip the horse, he hit the large 
ink-stand that .was on the ta-ble, 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


209 



and o-ver it went, and down ran 
the ink, in a black stream, on the 
ta-ble, on the pa-pers that lay on 
it, and on the car-pet. 

14 


210 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


What did Tom do now ? You 
may think how bad he felt ! 

It was his way to talk to him- 
self when no one was by, just as 
Ned did. 

So he said, “ 0, dear ! now what 
will pa-pa say ? May be, if I don’t 
tell that I came in here, he will 
think it was Puss that did it.” 

Tom sat still, and looked at the 
ink, and thought a lit-tle more. 

“No,” said he, at last; “if I 
should make pa-pa think Puss did 
it, I should be a re-al bad boy; 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


211 


and I won’t do two bad things ; I 
mean to tell pa-pa, if he does 
whip me.” 

Now pa-pa had come home on 
the noon train, to see how mam- 
ma was, and he had come to the 
door just as the ink went o-ver. 

When he heard Tom talk, he 
drew back, that he might not see 
him. 

He was glad in-deed to hear his 
boy make up his mind to tell the 
truth. * 

He went out, and soon Tom 


212 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


came to find him, when he knew 
that he had come home. 

“Pa-pa,” said Tom, “I went 
in-to your room to ride horse, and 
I hit your ink-stand, and spilled 
the ink.” 

“ But you know, my son, I have 
told you not to play in there — do 
you not ? ” 

“Yes, sir,” said Tom; and he 
hung down his head. 

“ Well, Tom,” said his pa-pa, “I 
will for-give you this, time, be- 
cause you told me the truth, and 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


213 


did not wait for me to ask. But 
if you had tried to make me think 
Puss spilled the ink, I should have 
had to whip you hard. 

“ And, more than this, my dear 
child, if I had not seen you, and 
had not found you out at all, God 
saw you, all the time, and He 
would hear, if you told a lie. 
Did you think of that, Tom ? ” 

“ Yes, pa-pa, I did, and that was 
what made me want to come and 
tell you.” 

It was well for Tom that he did 


214 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


think of this. It would be well 
for us all, at all times, to feel that 
God can see all we do, and hear 
all we say. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


215 


XXL 

THE SAD NEWS. 

Mam-ma soon be-gan to grow 
strong and well a-gain, so that she 
sat up all clay, all but an hour or 
so; and Rose, and Tom, and Ned 
could come in-to her room as 
much as they want-ed to; and 
that was a-bout all the time they 
were at home from school. Ned 
was there most all day, but he 
liked to go down and talk to Ruth 
some-times. 


216 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Aunt-y Bates, as the chil-dren 
called her, had to go home now, 
for a child of her own was sick, 
and she had to go to take care 
of him. 

But Mrs. Dale could spare her, 
for Jane knew how to tend a ba- 
by; she had ta-ken care of Ned, 
and of Tom, too, when they were 
wee lit-tle things. 

The ba-by was now more than 
three weeks old, and she grew 
fast. Some-times mam-ma let 
Rose sit down in her low chair, 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


217 


and hold ba-by on her lap; and 
then Rose was as proud and hap- 
py as she could be. 

It would have been just the best 
time that Rose ev-er knew, if it 
were not for one thing, that made 
them all feel sad. 

This sad thing was, that their 
kind Uncle Will was not at all 
well. 

He had had a cough for some 
time, and as the cold days came 
on, he grew worse and worse. 

• Each day, when Mr. Dale came 


218 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


home, the first thing his wife 
would ask was, “How does Will 
seem to-day ? ” 

And Rose knew, by her pa-pa’s 
face, that he did not think he was 
a-ny bet-ter. 

At last, one day, when Rose 
and Tom got back from school, 
they found their pa-pa at home. 
He was in their mam-ma’s room, 
talk-ing with her, and Rose and 
Tom could not go in, for the door 
was fast. 

Af-ter some time, pa-pa came 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


219 


to the door, and called the chil- 
dren. He gave them a kiss, and 
let them come in. 

Rose saw that her mam-ma had 
been cry-ing, and she said, “What 
is the mat-ter, dear mam-ma? 
Are yon sick ? ” 

“ Ho, my dear,” said her pa-pa ; 
“ mam-ma is not sick, but she has 
had bad news.” 

Rose and Tom stood still to 
hear what it was. 

“The doc-tor says that ITn-cle 
Will must go to the South, where 


220 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


it is warm, or he can nev-er be 
well a-gain. He is to go at once, 
by sea, and Aunt Kate is to go 
with him.” 

“ Hot be-fore Christ-mas, pa-pa ! 
They are to come here Christ-mas, 
you know ! ” 

“ But they must give it up now, 
dear, for the doc-tor says Un-cle 
Will must be off in the next 
steam-ship, next week.” 

Rose and Tom cried, “ 0 ! ” in a 
sad tone in-deed. It was sad for 
them to give up the nice vis-it. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


221 


that they thought so much of, 
from their dear friends; but it 
was worse to think how ill their 
kind un-cle must be. 

“And will I-da go in the big 
steam-ship, too ? ” asked Tom. 

“No, dear; our plan is to keep 
I-da here while her pa-pa and 
mam-ma are gone.” 

The chil-dren all gave a shout, 
as they heard this. “ 0, that will 
be nice! We shall be so glad to 
have I-da live here.” 

“ You love to have I-da with 


222 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


you, but you know, my dear chil- 
dren, she has nev-er been here 
with-out her mam-ma. 

“She will miss her pa-pa and 
mam-ma sad-ly, I know, poor lit- 
tle thing ! Will you all bear this 
in mind, and not be vexed with 
her, if she should fret and cry ? ” 

“ Yes, mam-ma ; I am sure we 
could not be vexed with I-da,” 
said Rose. 

“Do not be too sure, my love. 
I know you would not say that 
you love I-da bet-ter than you 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


223 


love your own broth-ers ; yet you 
know you are not kind to them all 
the time.” 

Rose hung her head. “ I don’t 
see how it is, mam-ma ; I am sure 
I love them, but the cross words 
slip right out, and then I feel bad, 
and wish I had not said them.” 

“ There is but one way to help 
it, my dear, and that is, to ask 
God to make you kind, in all your 
words and ways. 

“ There is a prayer in the Bi-ble 
that is a good one for us all to 


224 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


use,” said pa-pa ; “ shall I tell you 
the words of it ? Will you try to 
learn it, Tom ? ” 

Rose and Tom stood by their 
pa-pa, while he said the prayer for 
them to learn. This was it : — 

“ Set a watch, 0 Lord, be-fore 
my mouth ; keep the door of my 
lip>s. ,? 

Lit-tle Ned stood by, and this 
made him smile. “ A watch ’fore 
my mouf,” said he ; “ that’s fun-ny.” 

“ So I am to teach you, too, my 
lit-tle man,” said pa-pa; “well, 
come here, then.” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 225 

“ Now, Neel, this verse does not 
mean a watch like yours or mine, 
that is to tell the time.” 

Here Ned gave a proud look at 
his watch, for he had kept it yet, 
and had it on that day. He liked 
to hear his pa-pa say, u A watch 
like yours or mine.” 

“ What sort of a watch does it 
mean, pa-pa ? ” said Tom. 

“ A watch that keeps guard, my 
son. We call Tray a watch-dog, 
when he stays round the house at 


15 


226 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


night, and barks to let us know if 
he hears a step. 

“In town, a watch-man goes 
a-bout the streets at night, to see 
that bad men do not break in-to 
a-ny house, or hurt those who may 
pass by. 

“ When troops are in camp, or 
in a fort, they set some men out- 
side, to walk up and down, and 
keep watch, so that no one can 
go out or come in. These men 
are called the Watch. 

“Now you can see what the 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


227 


verse means. We ask God to set 
a watch, to keep the door of our 
lips, so that no bad words, no cross 
or un-kind words, may have a 
chance to come out. We do not 
want to speak a-ny words which 
God would not like to hear.” 

“How can God set a watch 
be-fore our mouth, pa-pa?” said 
Tom. 

“He can put His grace in our 
hearts, to help us to keep our lips 
shut, when we ought not to speak ; 
that is the way, I think; but He 


228 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


may help us in some oth-er way, 
of which we do not know.” 

“ You may be sure of this, dear 
lit-tle ones ; God can, and He will, 
help us to serve and please Him, 
if we ask Him with all our hearts. 

“ Now say the verse for me once 
more, and then I must go ” 

So Rose and Tom said the verse, 
and Red tried to say it, too. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


229 


XXII. 

COM-ING AND GO-ING. 

Aunt Kate and Un-cle Will 
came out to Brook-side the day 
be-fore they were to sail, to say, 
Good by, and bring dear lit-tle 
I-da. 

Poor Aunt Kate could not keep 
a sad look off from her face, for 
this was the first time she had had 
to part with her dear child; and 
she had more to make her sad; 


230 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


she could not but have some fear 
that I-da’s pa-pa might not get 
well. 

Lit-tle I-da was too young to 
know what it all meant. She did 
not know much a-bout a long time. 

When it was near time for them 
to leave her, her mam-ma said, 
“ I-da, dear, will you stay with 
aunt-y, and Rose, and the boys, 
and be a good girl till mam-ma 
and pa-pa come back ? ” 

“ 0, yes,” said the lit-tle one, “ I 
be good girl ! I loves Rose, and 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


231 


aunt-y, and Tom, and my Ned, 
too ! ” 

“Dear pet,” said Aunt Kate, 
with tears in her eyes, “ what will 
mam-ma do with-ont you ? ” And 
she held her in her arms, and gave 
her a long kiss, as if she could not 
let her go. 

I-da felt sor-ry to see her mam- 
ma cry ; she did not know what it 
was for. She did not know what 
a long, long time it must be, be- 
fore her dear mam-ma could hold 
her and kiss her a-gain. 


232 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Then her pa-pa took her in his 
arms. He could not speak, but he 
kissed her, o-ver and o-ver a-gain. 
He did not know that he should 
ev-er see his ba-by a-gain, on 
earth. 

Then they bade all Good by — 
all but Mr. Hale; he was to go 
with them to the steam-er, and 
see them off. 

When I-da stood with the chil- 
dren to see them start, she be-gan 
to feel that she was to be left. 
She tried not to cry, for she had 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


233 


told her mam-ma she would be a 
good girl. 

But the tears were in her eyes, 
as she called out, “Pa-pa and 
mam-ma come back pit-ty soon ! 
Good by ! ” 

When they drove out of sight, 
Rose and -Tom led I-da back to 
the house ; she kept say-ing, in a 
sad voice, “ Pa-pa and mam-ma 
will come pit-ty soon — won't 
they ? ” 

“Yes, dear; some day not far 
otf, I hope,” said her aunt-y; 


234 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ come, now, love, let us go and 
see ba-by Bell.” 

Rose and the boys did their 
best to cheer I-da, and keep her 
from cry-ing for her mam-ma. 

I-da did not fret; that is, she 
was not cross ; but for some days, 
in the midst of her play, she would 
run and look down the road, and 
ask, u Is my mam-ma com-ing 
now f ” 

Then they would say, “ Not yet, 
dear,” and try to call her off, and 
make her think of some-thing else. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


235 


One day, Tom had a pic-ture 
book in his hand, to show I-da 
pic-tures. 



u 0, see ! ” said he ; u here is a 
ship like that your pa-pa and 
mam-ma have gone in, I-da ! ” 


236 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Rose came to look. “0!” said 
she, “ I don’t be-lieve that is the 
same kind. Pa-pa said they went 
in a steam-er, and that would have 
steam com-ing out of a pipe, I 
guess ; let’s go and ask mam-ma.” 

“No,” said mam-ma, “that ves- 
sel goes by means of those wide 
sails ; the wind blows it a-long it 
is a sail-ing ves-sel. But I-da’s 
pa-pa has gone in a steam-ship.” 

But they will meet ves-sels like 
those you see in the pic-ture, 
of-ten. I dare say there may be 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


237 


some near them now, as they rush 
on o-ver the wa-ter. 

Lit-tle I-da took the pic-ture, 
and sat still a long time to look at 
it. She liked to see what her 
pa-pa and mam-ma had in sight. 


238 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


XXIII. 

TALK A-BOUT CHKIST-MAS. 

When the trunk, with I-da’s 
clothes, came, there was a large 
box set in-to the hall at the same 
time. 

Rose and Tom thought it held 
some more of I-da’s things, for 
which there was no room in the 
trunk. 

But when their mam-ma came 
to un-pack the trunk, and put 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


239 


I-da’s lit-tle frocks and things in 
some draw-ers, she did not call for 
the big box. 

“ Mam-ma,” said Tom, “ there is 
a box with more things in it, down 
in the hall; shall I go and ask 
Mike to bring it up ? ” 

“ 0, no,” said his mam-ma, 
“ there are no clothes in that box ; 
and it is not in the hall now.” 

Tom ran to peep o-ver the rails. 
It was gone ; that was a fact. 

u Why, mam-ma, what was in 
it? and why did it come with 
I-da’s things ? ” 


240 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


Aunt Kate packed it, but I can- 
not let you know what is in it 
un-til next week.” 

“ Next week ! 0, then I know,” 

cried Rose; “it is some-thing for 
Christ-mas ! ” 

Rose was right in her guess. 
Aunt Kate had put some Christ- 
mas gifts for her dear lit-tle girl in 
that box, to make her glad when 
she would be far a- way. 

And she had put some-thing in 
it, too, for each of the cliil-dren, as 
we shall see. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 241 

“ What is Kist-mas, mam-ma ? ” 
asked lit-tle ISTecl ; and I-da looked 
up as if she would like to know, 
too. 

Mam-ma had just put the last 
things up, and sent the trunk out. 

She sat down to take ba-by Bell, 
and said, “Come here by me now, 
dar-lings, and I will try to tell you 
what Christ-mas is. 

“ It is the birth-day of our dear 
Lord Je-sus Christ. 

“Does I-da know what a nice 
time she had on her birth-day ? ” 


16 


242 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


I-da smiled, and said, “Yes.” 

“ Mam-ma made it a hap-py 
day, be-cause she loves you so 
much. Next month, Rose’s birth- 
day will come; then we will try 
to have a hap-py day, be-cause we 
love Tier. 

“ So, on the day when our dear 
Lord was born, we are glad, and 
sing, and give nice gifts to each 
oth-er, and to the poor. 

“We are glad that our Lord 
was born, a lit-tle child, on that 
day; and we make it a hap-py 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


243 


day, be-cause we love Him, and 
He loves us.” 

“ Mam-ma, please tell us a-bout 
when Je-sus was born,” said Tom. 

So mam-ma told them the dear 
old sto-ry which you all love to 
hear. 

How to the Yir-gin Ma-ry a lit- 
tle babe was giv-en, who was the 
ho-ly Son of God. 

And a bright an-gel came down 
to earth, and told this good news 
to some men who kept their sheep, 
out in the fields, that night. 


244 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


And, as soon as he had told 
them, more bright an-gels came 
and sang a hap-py song, for joy 
that Christ the Lord was born, to 
save men from their sins. 

And then the men who kept the 
sheep, when they had heard the 
good news, and the song of joy, 
went at once to see the ho-ly child. 

And they came in haste, and 
found Him, ly-ing in a man-ger. 

For, though he was Lord of all, 
yet for our sake he be-came poor. 

I-da and Ned were too young 



APORATfON OF SHEPHERDS. Page 244 




IDA AND BABY BELL. 


245 


to know all that this sto-ry means, 
but they loved to hear it, and 
stood still till it was told. 

“Now, Rose, get your Bi-ble 
pic-ture book, and show them the 
pic-ture of this ; and be still now, 
dear ones; ba-by wants to go to 
sleep.” 


246 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


XXIV. 

CHRIST-MAS. 

The week af-ter I-cla came, there 
was no school, for it was so near 
Christ-mas that the lit-tle ones 
conlcl not keep still, for joy ; and 
Miss El-la had a good deal to do, 
and did not want to keep school 
then. 

It was well that Rose and Tom 
were at home, for they could help 
take care of I-da and Ned. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


247 


And then there was so much to 
do ! Rose, and Tom, and Ned 
each want-ed to have a gift for 
Ruth, and for Jane, and for Mike, 
and O-ney. 

Their pa-pa gave them each a 
dol-lar to spend for Christ-mas, 
and they had long talks with 
mam-ma a-bout what they should 
get; and each day, when pa-pa 
went to town, they held him by 
the coat, out in the hall, to give 
him some er-rand, which he must 
be sure not to for-get ! 


248 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“ Have you spent all your mon- 
ey, chicks ? ” said pa-pa, one day. 

“Wot quite all, pa-pa; I have 
some more things to get yet,” said 
Rose. 

“ You must not for-get to keep 
some to put on the plate, for the 
poor, Christ-mas day, when we go 
to church.” 

Rose and Tom gave each oth-er 
a look. “ But, pa-pa, if we do, we 
can-not get a-ny thing for Wed or 
for I-da.” 

“Well, dears, I think you may 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


249 


feel quite sure that Ned and I-da 
will have some nice gifts. 

“You may do as you choose 
with your own mon-ey ; I dare 
say it would be more fun for you 
to buy toys for the lit-tle ones ; 
but do not for-get that our dear 
Lord says, that what we give to 
the poor we give to Him.” 

“We ought to give to Him on 
His birth-day,” said Tom. 

“Yes, we ought,” said Rose. 
“ Tom, let us keep all the rest of 
our mon-ey to take to church.” 


25.0 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


u And I will take my mon-ey to 
church,” said Ned. 

Christ-mas came at last. No 
need to call and shake lit-tle folks, 
to wake them up, on that morn- 
ing! 

As soon as they got their eyes 
o-pen, they be-gan to shout, “ Mer- 
ry Christ-mas ! ” “ Mer-ry Christ- 
mas ! ” so loud that all in the 
house could hear. 

I-da sat up in her crib with a 
smile when she heard Rose and 
Tom say this ; as for Ned, his eyes 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


251 


were as big as stars, and as bright, 
when he knew that the hap-py 
day was come. 

Ba-by Bell heard the sounds of 
joy, and she o-pened her blue 
eyes, and put her fist in her mouth, 
as if she thought, u I must not cry 
to-day, for it is Mer-ry Christ-mas.” 

So she lay there while mam-ma 
was dress-ing, and un-til Jane had 
the chil-dren dressed, and came 
to take her. 

When the chil-dren were read-y, 
they ran down to the par-lor. 


252 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


They knew that some-thmg that 
they would like to see was in their 
pa-pa’s room, back of the par-lor ; 
but it was of no use to try the 
door, for it would not o-pen till all 
were there. 

Soon pa-pa came, and rang a 
bell ; then up came Ruth, and 
Mike, and O-ney, who had been 
told they must be sure to come; 
and down came mam-ma, with 
ba-by, and Jane. 

Then pa-pa said, “ Who will sing 
a Christ-mas hymn for us ? ” 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


253 


Then the chil-dren, with mam- 
ma’s voice to help, sang this lit-tle 
hymn : — 

“ Lit-tle chil-dren, can you say 

Why you’re glad on Christ-mas Day? 

Lit-tle chil-dren, can you tell 
Why you hear the sweet church bell? 

Can you tell me who was born 
Ear-ly on the Christ-mas morn? 

“ All at once we make re-ply, 

We are glad, and we know why ; 

’Tis the birth-day of our King, 

And we our lit-tle gifts will bring. 

Christ was born on Christ-mas Day ; 
There-fore we are glad and gay.” 

When this hymn was sung, the 
door of pa-pa’s room o-pened ; 
and what did they see ? 


254 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


The ink and pa-pers were all 
gone from pa-pa’s ta-ble, and a 
fine, tall Tree grew right up in the 
mid-dle of it. 

The room was shut up dark, but 
the Tree was full of small wax 
lights, which lit up all the pret-ty 
things that were on it and un- 
der it. 

What a shout the young ones 
gave, as they ran up close to see 
the Tree ! Ba-by Bell put up her 
lip to cry, at the noise, but she did 
not; she just put her fist in her 
mouth, in-stead. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


255 


Then pa-pa stood by the Tree, 
and be-gan to take things off, one 
by one, and call out the name that 
was on each. 

“ What was there for Rose ? 
What was there for lit-tle I-da, 
and for the boys % ” you cry. 

0, dear me ! I wish I had kept 
a list of all that was on the Tree, 
for each one ! But I am sure I 
can-not tell you all. 

I know what there was for Rose, 
from Aunt Kate; it was a box, 
with a key to wind it up; and 


256 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


when it was wound, it would be- 
gin and play a tune, and then an- 
oth-er, and an-oth-er. 0, how 
pleased all the chil-dren were 
with the sweet sounds! 

Tom had a box of tools from his 
Un-cle Will. Such a dear lit-tle 
ham-mer, and saw, and tile, and 
gim-lets, and all he would want to 
work with ! 

Ned had a great box of blocks, 
that would join with a sort of 
hinge, and stay just as he put 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 257 

them ; these were from Un-cle 
Will, too. 

Then from his pa-pa and mam- 
ma he had a train of cars, with an 
en-gine, and a box of nice can-dy ; 
and Jane gave him a dog that 
wonld bark ; and 0, I can-not tell 
the rest. 

As for lit-tle I-da, she was as 
hap-py as a queen. She had a 
nice, new doll, with a sweet face, 
and nice clothes, to put on and 
take off ; and a cra-dle, to rock her 
doll in ; and a dear lit-tle cab, from 


17 


258 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


her aunt-y, to draw it a-bout in ; 
and a great big book, full of gay 
pic-tures, from her pa-pa. 

0, 1 must not for-get to tell you 
what a nice lit-tle stove Rose had 
for one of her gifts. It had a 
bright tea-ket-tle on it, and pots 
and pans, to cook all that the dolls 
could eat — her own dolls, and 
I-da’s, too ! 

Tom had a book, too, that 
pleased him ver-y much ; and a 
fine top that would hum; and 
some oth-er things. 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


259 


Then there were gifts for Ruth 
and Jane, and for Mike and his 
wife, and for mam-ma, and for pa- 
pa him-self. 

“And none for ba-by Bell?” 
Why, to be sure there were some 
for her. 

Let me see ! She had a dear 
lit-tle white silk hood, from her 
Aunt Kate, to wear to church ; for 
she was to go to church soon, you 
know, to be bap-tized. 

And she had a large sil-ver dol- 
lar, with a hole in it, to hang round 
her neck ; and a coral and bells. 


260 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


“Now,” said pa-pa, “we must 
leave these things here, and have 
prayers, and then eat our break- 
fast, or we shall not get to church 
in time.” 

But I must not tell you more of 
this hap-py day, for this chap-ter 
is too long now. 

And I can-not put a-ny more 
in-side the cov-ers of this book ] 
if I do, it will make it too fat, as 
you would say. 

What shall I do ? I de-clare, I 
shall have to make one more book, 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


261 


for I am sure you will want to 
know if I-da's pa-pa got well, and 



262 


IDA AND BABY BELL. 


if ba-by Bell grew to be a big girl, 
and a great deal more a-bout Rose, 
and Tom, and Ned. 

“ Dear ba-by Bell ! ” said Rose ; 
“ she is the best gift we have had 
this year ! ” 

And mam-ma said, “ 1 think so, 
too.” 

































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